Are You A Critical Thinker?

Not a MENSA Math Marvel, but able to logically think through an answer. These focus on math, but they address life skills of problem solving:

Take the official critical thinking quiz* and test your knowledge with questions from our award-winning titles.

1) You have only an 8-liter jug and a 3-liter jug. Both containers are unmarked. You need exactly 4 liters of water.How can you get it, if a water faucet is handy? Question from Classroom Quickies • Show/Hide Solution Answer: Fill the 3-liter jug three times, each time dumping the water from it into the 8-liter jug. The third time, this will leave one liter of water in the 3-liter jug, and the 8-liter jug will be filled. Dump the water from the 8-liter jug down the drain, and then empty the one liter of water from the 3-liter jug into the 8-liter jug. Now fill the 3-liter jug again and dump the water into the 8-liter jug. The 8-liter jug now contains 4 liters of water. Various answers are possible.

2) What can you add to 1,000,000 and always get more than if you multiplied the 1,000,000 by the same value?Question from Scratch Your Brain • Show/Hide Solution Answer: zero, any number less than and including 1.000001, any fraction less than a whole, or any negative number.

3) Determine the common saying depicted in these verbal picture puzzles.a. DECISION b. ANOTHER     ONE Question from Think-A-Grams • Show/Hide Solution Answer: a.) split decision b.) one after another

4) What is the 50th number in this sequence? Explain how you got your answer.5, 11, 17, 23, 29, 35, 41, … Question from Dr. Funster’s Think-A-Minutes • Show/Hide Solution Answer: 299. The pattern involves a difference of 6 between adjacent terms of the sequence. Add 6 to 5, getting 11, then add 6 to 11, getting 17, then add 6 to 17, getting 23, etc., until 6 has been added 50 times, ending in 299. Answer explanations will vary.

5) Determine both one-word answers. The floor of ship or boat, They walk on me at sea; Where there’s a C, make it an S, At school you sit on me. What am I? _______________ Question from Spelling DooRiddles • Show/Hide Solution Answer: Deck, desk

6) The reason he gave the press for leaving his job was illness and fatigue. That wasn’t exactly the truth and it wasn’t exactly a lie.Why did he leave? Question from Red Herring Mysteries • Show/Hide Solution Answer: He was the coach of a professional ball team. The teams owner fired him because he was sick and tired of the teams dismal performance.

7) Determine both one-word answers.Another word for sick, Your forehead is quite hot; Now put an H in front, A mountain I am not. What am I?______________ Question from Spelling DooRiddles • Show/Hide Solution Answer: a.) ill b.) hill

Use the clues to solve the puzzle.A duck, a goose, a goat, and a horse all entered the barn at different times one day last week. 1) A mammal entered the barn first. 2) The duck entered before the goose. 3) The goose entered ahead of the horse. Who entered the barn first? ____________ Question from Dr. Funster’s Creative Thinking Puzzlers • Show/Hide Solution Answer: the goat

9) Determine the common term or phrase depicted in these verbal picture puzzles.a. CHIEDITOREF b. T   2222 Question from Think-A-Grams • Show/Hide Solution Answer: a.) Editor in Chief b.) Tea for two

10) Use the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division symbols once each to make these equations true.a. 600 __ 200 __ 400 __ 300 __ 200 = 200 b. 200 __ 300 __ 600 __ 400 __ 200 = 200 Question from Dr. Funster’s Quick Thinks Math • Show/Hide Solution Answer: a.) 600 x 200 / 400 – 300 + 200 = 200 b.) 200 / 300 x 600 – 400 + 200 = 200

11) While relaxing on the deck outside her cabin one summer evening, Vivian fell into a deep trance-like sleep. When she awoke, she felt as if she had slept only an hour or two, but it was now the middle of winter.How could this be? Question from Red Herring Mysteries • Show/Hide Solution Answer: Vivian was on the patio of her first class cabin on a cruise ship. She fell asleep just before the ship crossed the equator on a trip from Hawaii to New Zealand. The equator is the dividing line between the opposite seasons. She fell asleep north of the equator while in the middle of summer and awoke two hours later south of th equator in the middle of winter.

12) What do you get when a math teacher is a magician? ________________Question from Scratch Your Brain • Show/Hide Solution

Common Sense Wins Out: It Takes More Than Praise to Make Kids Smart

Remember those common sense words of wisdom–no pain, no gain, nothing worth it comes easy (fix this). Scientific studies now show that those old axioms are closer to the truth than what we’d like to believe–that praising a child makes him so.

Read this from Scientific American:

The Secret to Raising Smart Kids

Hint: Don’t tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life

By Carol S. Dweck

A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests. As a consequence, his grades plummeted. His parents tried to boost their son’s confidence by assuring him that he was very smart. But their attempts failed to motivate Jonathan (who is a composite drawn from several children). Schoolwork, their son maintained, was boring and pointless.

Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.

The result plays out in children like Jonathan, who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.

Praising children’s innate abilities, as Jonathan’s parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life. (More about the secret to raising smart kids)

National Education Standards? Can You Say Big Brother?

Big Brother or Saving Grace

One size fits all in the education field? Since when did all Americans agree on how children should be raised? Isn’t that why we have private schools, Christian schools, magnet schools–because rarely can a large group agree on what is critical to a child’s development.Would you want San Francisco (or you fill in the blank) making decisions about the books your child reads? Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t, but I’ll bet you want the choice.

National standards are a pivotal change from each state following local cultural morays. Wait till Iowa hears they have to teach transgender dress or Utah that it must teach evolution. Whether you agree with liberal or conservative, the three R’s or a more eclectic approach, there is no one rule that suits everyone. And that’s part of the beauty of American education.

Here’re the national physical education standards, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education:

A physically educated person:

— Has learned skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities
— Is physically fit
— Does participate regularly in physical activity
— Knows the implications of and the benefits from involvement in physical activities
— Values physical activity and its contribution to a healthful lifestyle

S, let’s see if I got this straight: A physically educated person is physically fit. Pretty wishy washy for most PE teachers I know. The lack of details sure keeps teachers from teaching to the test. Thanks, feds.

Read for yourself.

Education Week: National Subject-Matter Standards? Be Careful What You Wish For

By Marion Brady

“American education,” said Buckminster Fuller, “has evolved in such a way that it will be the undoing of the society.”

Fuller, the visionary thinker and inventor whose work spanned fields from architecture to philosophy, was about to address a 1988 conference of business executives at Rockford College in Illinois, but was first reacting to a speech just concluded by the college’s president.

Looking at the president, he continued: “What you fellows in the universities do is to make all the bright students into experts in something. That has some usefulness, but the trouble is it leaves the ones with mediocre minds and the dunderheads to become generalists who serve as college presidents. And presidents of the United States.”

Generalists—people concerned with the “big picture”—don’t get much respect in the modern world. There’s no “generalists” listing in the Yellow Pages, none are on school faculties, and no employment ads request applications from them.

What’s the big picture right now? Clashes on the fault lines between religions, societies, and civilizations. Terrorism. A widening gap between rich and poor. The confusing of national power with national greatness. Boardroom dishonesty. Violence promoted as entertainment. Lobbyist-dominated legislatures. Great confidence in the ability of force to improve the world. Tax evasion and other evidences of a lack of a sense of social responsibility. An education system in disarray from policies driven by ideology and simplistic conventional wisdom. (more)

Three Tips to Keep Your PC Safe

These are good reminders that you can’t just plug a new PC in and expect it to work as advertised. Before you go online to download updates, music, online programs (like Printkey, Jing, or other programs I can’t live without), install the alarm systems:

Keeping That New PC Clean and Pure

By RIVA RICHMOND

Published: September 2, 2009

School starts soon, and many people are getting spanking-new computers. Ah, the joy of a new and more powerful toy — and a clean slate.

Illustration by Randall Enos

A new PC, whether you know it or not, may well have freed you from many malicious programs that steal credit card numbers and other valuable information or otherwise obstruct your safe and private use of the Internet. Now is the time — while you’re getting everything set up just the way you like it — to take some steps to keep your new machine clean and free of malware. Here is what you need to do before you do anything else.

CHECK YOUR FIREWALL SETTINGS

Do this before you even connect your computer to the Internet. Firewalls prevent certain unwanted traffic from reaching your computer, including worms that spread through network connections. New laptops and desktops with Windows Vista (and, come Oct. 22, the next version of the operating system, Windows 7) and netbooks using Windows XP SP2 or higher have a firewall that is built in and turned on by default. You can make sure all is well by going to the Windows Security Center, clicking Start, then Control Panel, then Security Center and Windows Firewall.

Mac users can check and adjust their firewall settings by clicking on the Apple icon and going to System Preferences and clicking on Security and then Firewall. At a minimum, choose “allow only essential services.” A better option is to select “set access for specific services and applications” and play gatekeeper, allowing programs to connect as you need them, said Rich Mogull, founder of the security consultant firm Securosis.

UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE

Even though you have a new machine, chances are that security fixes have been issued since the manufacturer loaded the software, so you will want to download those as soon as you get online.

Your new PC may prompt you to check for updates from Microsoft, but, if not, open Windows Update by clicking the Start button, then All Programs and then Windows Update. On the left pane, click “check for updates.” (For more information about Windows Security, see microsoft.com/protect.)

To help you keep Microsoft products up to date, Windows will prompt owners of new machines to sign up for automatic updates. You will see a screen asking if you want to “Help protect Windows automatically.” Choose the first option, “Use recommended settings,” so you get everything and don’t have to worry about it again.

Barring an urgent problem, updates come out on the second Tuesday of the month. To schedule exactly what time your updates are installed — say at 3 a.m., when you are asleep — open Windows Update and select Change Settings and make your choices. This is also a good time to turn on the Internet Explorer Phishing Filter, which can help keep you from turning over personal information to the wrong people.

For Mac users, your computer will automatically check for updates once a week. If you are a paranoid person, have it check more frequently by clicking Software Update in the System Preferences panel and then choose Daily.

ADD SECURITY SOFTWARE

Firewalls won’t help fend off viruses or Trojan horses that can come through e-mail messages, Web sites and pop-up ads. Given the frightening number of malicious programs that aim for Windows PCs, owners of these machines really need to use some security software. There are several free antivirus programs, like AVG 8.5 Free, Avast Antivirus and the forthcoming Microsoft Security Essentials, so even penniless students have no excuse to go without. Note that Vista comes with Windows Defender, which blocks spyware and pop-up ads, and that program can be downloaded free by Windows XP SP2 machines.

Since a lot of malicious programs now come through Web sites, you will also want to use one of the many free tools available to help you avoid malicious sites. Microsoft’s newest browser, Internet Explorer 8, will warn you if you try to visit sites it deems unsafe, deceptive or carriers of a common Web attack type called “cross-site scripting” attacks. Other browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari, also warn users about potentially unsafe sites, using a blacklist kept by Google. There is also McAfee’s SiteAdvisor, a free add-on for the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers (the latter works on both Windows and Mac), that shows site reputation information within search results pages, including warnings about potentially dangerous sites.

There are few malicious programs that aim for Macs, so an antivirus program isn’t essential at this point. That said, some Mac experts think that the days of peace and security for Macs may be waning. There have a been a few Trojan horses recently, and some Web attacks don’t care which operating system you use. If you frequent file-sharing sites, or your employer requires it, buy a Mac antivirus program.

SORT OUT THE APPLICATIONS

New Windows PCs typically come loaded with all kinds of third-party programs, many of which you will never use.

“In a lot of cases, that’s extra software that might have vulnerabilities” that hackers could exploit, says Chad Dougherty, a vulnerability analyst at the CERT Program at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute.

To avoid problems, eliminate the programs you don’t need by clicking the Start button and choosing Control Panel and then Programs to see a list of what is on your machine. Select unwanted programs and then hit the Uninstall button at the top of the program list.

Then sign up for automatic updates from the makers of any software you intend to keep — or that you later install yourself, for that matter. To help you make sure you have checked out everything, download Secunia PSI, a free tool that will help you make sure that all the programs on your PC get security patches.

Speaking of that, always be careful about which software you install from the Internet, whether you have a PC or a Mac. These programs can contain vulnerabilities, and pirated programs and random add-ons may be outright malicious.

How Obama Is Changing Education

I wanted to discuss the results of NCLB, now that we’re leaving it behind and moving on to what Obama calls ‘Race to the Top’. I started with a Google search for stories, data, apocryphal results. By the time I read the heading and the first few sentences, I could tell if it would be pro or con. Whatever stories were available or data out there, it would end up proving the author’s purpose in their article. See if you agree:

Words like:

abysmal, ‘the realities left behind’, crucial, –these are all hyperbolic words, emotional statements, intended to insight feelings in lieu of necessary data

Words like:

released the data’, ‘accountability system’, ‘we have a lot more work to do’, –these are denotative words (not intended to draw on emotion), fact-based, good-with-the-bad approach

The following two stories draw dramatically different conclusions from President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. See which word grouping you think they belong to:

How Communities, Parents and Students Assess the Impact of the NCLB Act 2004 – 07: The Realities Left Behind

• NCLB has been imposed on a public school system that remains unequal. From one end of the country to another, witnesses described inequities in resources that made the federal mandates not only onerous but also exceedingly unfair. Moreover, the failure of policymakers to increase the capacity of state education agencies and districts to carry out reforms has allowed them to avoid responsibility and accountability. While these inequities stem from state and district policymaking, the federal government can leverage incentives or Title I formulas to encourage the reduction of disparities in resources between districts and schools.
• NCLB rests on a faulty measurement capacity. The quality and reliability of tests need improvement. In addition, the public wants a broader purpose for assessment systems. Beyond the acquisition of basic skills, assessment systems should measure student and school achievement in other areas, including fostering of citizenship, preparation in “soft skills” valued by employers and colleges alike, and the development of all talents, from technical to artistic. Admittedly, some of these aspects are not easily measured, but that should not be an excuse for ignoring them or minimizing their importance to student success.

More schools earning As, state report cards show

By Lori Higgins
Free Press Education Writer

Fewer schools are failing to meet state and federal academic goals, more are earning As, and more are pulling themselves out of trouble. That’s the story behind the release today of state report cards for every public school in Michigan.

• The number of schools that met the academic goals rose from 3,003 last year to 3,147 this year.
• The number of schools receiving As on their state report cards rose from 1,526 to 1,680.
• More than 35 schools that have been consistent failures managed to show enough improvement in the last two years that they are safe from sanctions. Sixteen of those schools are located in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
• The number of schools that fail to meet the standards because of the performance of minority, economically disadvantaged, special education and limited English speaking students is on the decline.
• Of the 524 schools statewide that didn’t meet the academic goals, about 100 are located in Detroit Public Schools and another 142 are in the tri-county area.

It’s a tale of two debate techniques, one inductive and one deductive. Read the data and draw your conclusions or read the accept the reviewer’s early-stated conclusion and see how they arrived at their end point. If you’re pro NCLB, you’d say those against didn’t look at the data. If you’re against NCLB, you’d say the reporting agencies ‘taught to the test’–twisted the data to fit your needs.

How do we know if the program worked or not? It comes down to us, as citizens soldiers of the American political system, just trying to give our kids a better life than we had. We believe education will do that. Most of us like our schools, but think the rest of them suck.

New administration. New ideas. Here comes Obama’s Race to the Top:

California Actions on ‘Race to Top’ Scrutinized

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs an order in Sacramento last month calling for a special session of the legislature to consider a basket of education improvement proposals.
— Rich Pedroncelli/AP

By Alyson Klein

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to call a special session to better position California for Race to the Top funds may be the highest-profile test yet of whether proposed federal requirements for the coveted grants are likely to significantly reshape state policy.

The Republican governor last month directed the Democratic-controlled California legislature to consider enacting a package of education redesign measures—including scrapping a law blocking the state from linking student and teacher data—in hopes of improving the state’s competitive posture.

Under draft criteria for the Race to the Top Fund, released July 23, states that have such a data “firewall” on the books would be automatically disqualified from getting a portion of the $4.35 billion fund, which was created under the American…

13 Cool Win 7 Tricks

Win 7 isn’t out until October unless you have an on-the-ball tech director like my school. This means, I have to train my students in the changes pretty quick. Because I teach K-5 technology, I try to keep information to what will make sense to that age group and present it as they might run across it in daily use.

Putting aside the geeky-stuff that IT sort are excited about, I’ve distilled my tips into 13 tricks that will excite K-8 students:

Watch ‘getting started’ videos

Just like with XP, there’s a ‘Getting Started’ section, but this is a series of videos on a bunch of topics. Depending upon the age, have them watch some, all or those of their choice.

Taskbar

• The Quick Start is gone, but most students didn’t use it much, so that’s not a big deal. What is a big deal is the ease with which students can now pin a program to the task bar or the start menu (with a right click). This is great for when desktop icons disappear (students think it’s funny to hide or disappear them from their fellow users). Now, they’ll be able to quickly replace them. Since many adults don’t know how to add a task to the start button, this will be a chance to wow their parents, too
• Tasks open are now small squares, grouped according to programs. Multiples tasks under the same program show as shadows behind the original. The older the student, the more programs they operate at once. This will be a change they’ll learn to love.

Aside from these changes in appearance, there are new shortkeys that your kids or students will quickly fall in love with. I don’t know if it’s because knowledge is power or they inherently hate wasting time, but they’re always proud of every keyboard shortcut they can teach a friend. Here are a few that will be hits with them:

In Windows, in any program

To maximize a window, double click title bar

For a quick Exit, use  Alt+F4 (this isn’t new, but still works and still thrills students)

Windows key +tab

If you’re in a program and want to zoom in/out, use WK and + or –

To show the desktop, use  WK+M

To merely peek at your desktop, use WK+spacebar

To walk through the taskbar, use WK+Tab (arrived with Vista, but if you skipped Vista like I did, it’s new to you). Alt+tab still works, but not as much fun

To open multiples of the same program, click mouse scroll on the taskbar program you want to duplicate

To minimize all but one open window, shake the window you want maximized (called the aero-shake)

To open the task Manager, use Ctrl+Shift+Escape

To arrange desktop icons, push F5 from the desktop

*          vulcan nerve pinch–Keyboard commands that tax the hand’s ability to reach all of the appropriate keys.­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Is Handwriting Like Camera Film–So Last Generation

Studies show one in three children struggle with handwriting. I’d guess more, seeing it first hand as a teacher. Sound bad? Consider another study shows that one in five parents say they last penned a letter more than a year ago.

Let’s look at the facts. Students handwrite badly, and don’t use it much when they grow up (think about yourself. How often do you write a long hand letter?). Really, why is handwriting important in this day of keyboards, PDAs, smart phones, spellcheck, word processing? I start students on MS Word in second grade, about the same time their teacher is beginning cursive. Teach kids the rudiments and turn them over to the tech teacher for keyboarding.

I searched for reasons why I was wrong. Here’s what I found:

• 1 in 10 Americans are endangered by the poor handwriting of physicians.
• citizens miss out on $95,000,000 in tax refunds because the taxman can’t read their handwriting
• Poor handwriting costs businesses $200,000,000 in time and money that result in confused and inefficient employees, phone calls made to wrong numbers, and letters delivered to incorrect addresses.

Read on:

Schools: Less cursive, more keyboarding

BROWNSBURG, Ind., Aug. 28 (UPI) —

Officials in an Indiana school district said cursive writing lessons will be scaled down this year in favor of computer keyboarding.

How to Stop Hating Your Computer

Believe it or not, most computer problems are simple. I can say that because I’ve run a computer lab for almost ten years. I’ve seen just about every problem there is and have learned this: If you believe your life with computers is a constant state of civil unrest, you’d be right.

Hardware

The computer/monitor/keyboard/mouse doesn’t work	Is the power cord plugged in? Is the keyboard/mouse/monitor plugged into the CPU? Is the computer/monitor power button on?
The sound doesn’t work	Are the speakers plugged in—correctly—to the CPU? If you have headphones, are they plugged in—correctly—to the CPU (match the colors) Is the volume up? Is there any sound playing?
Monitor went black	Is it still plugged in? Is it seated correctly (wiggle and push—make sure it’s really plugged in)

Windows (Before you start a program)

I can’t find my MS Office program	Did you look on the desktop? The Start button? Under ‘All Programs’? Right click on the desktop; select ‘new’. Pick the MS Office app you need Push the Start Button and Search for any file ending in .doc or docx (depending upon which version of Word you own). Your search should read: *.doc or *.docx. When it finds a data file (a document created in MS Word), open it. That will open Word
The Start button is gone	Push the Flying Windows key
The Taskbar is gone	Hover over the bottom of the screen. Did it reappear? Is it on the side of the screen? Push the Flying Windows (85% of taskbar tasks are to open a new program)
The Taskbar was moved	Drag and drop it back to where you like it
The Desktop icons are all messed up	Right click on the desktop. Select ‘arrange’ and how you want them sorted
The screen says ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del”	Hold down Ctrl+Alt with your left hand, and push ‘delete’ with your right

From Within a Program

I can’t find the file	Search for it (see instructions above) Open the Recycle Bin. Is it in there?
I need today’s date	Hover over the clock in the lower right corner. It’ll show the date Start typing the date (you probably know the month) and Word usually fills it in for you Shift+Alt+D is the keyboard shortcut for date
I erased my document/text/paragraph	Ctrl+Z will undo one step at a time for up to 200 steps
A toolbar is missing	Right-click in the toolbar area. Select the toolbar you need. The most commonly used ones are ‘Format’ and ‘Standard’. If you’re missing some icons, they’re probably on one of those two
Some of the icons are missing from the toolbar	See above
The program disappeared	Is it on the taskbar? Click to re-activate
The program froze	There’s probably a dialogue box open somewhere. Look around the screen. When you find it, it’ll want you to answer a question You might have gotten out of it. Re-select it on the taskbar
A menu command I need is grayed out and won’t work	You’re probably in the middle of something you don’t even know about. Push ‘Esc’ (for ‘escape’) four times and try again
I can’t exit a program	Alt+F4 closes most programs. Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then select the Task Manager. From there, pick the ‘applications’ tab and close your program.
The double-click doesn’t work	Click and then push enter.
My shift key won’t capitalize	Is your Caps Lock on?

From the Internet

The top toolbar disappeared

Push F11

What You Need to Know about Kidproofing the Internet

Kidproof your children online

Keeping your child safe online is a constant question from my parents. They ask about firewall, filters, kidsafe desktops. The only solution, truly, is to pay attention to what’s going on. Here’s some guidance from my friend, Coolcatteacher. She says it better than I could:

Steps to monitoring for parents to consider:

1. Use a filter with some sort of parental control. You know the password and decide what types of activities you will allow them to do.I filter all pornography. After all, what little boy can resist typing “sex” into the Google box. Otherwise, I’m pretty lenient on my filtration. I currently block myspace and such but when they are ready, we will unblock it together and set up the profile together. My children are young for that right now but when they are ready, I want them to ask me so I know that they are using it.
2. Discuss with your child what they can and cannot do online. (more on kidproofing the internet)

5 Clues You’ve Been Hacked and What to do About it

How do you know if your computer has been breached, hacked, cracked or otherwise compromised? If it won’t boot up or vomits up the Blue Screen of Death, it’s pretty obvious, but what if  your intruder is more devious. Doesn’t want you to know he’s been there, so leaves none of the obvious signs?

Here are some clues:

• Applications that used to work fine, don’t
• It takes longer than usual to boot up
• Programs you didn’t install show up, such as toolbars at the top of your browser screen
• Something has changed on your computer. A popular trick is hi-jacking your browser–changing the home page. Don’t ignore that. Yes, you can reset your start page, but it’s a symptom of a bigger problem
• You allowed someone you don’t know to use your computer and now, it just doesn’t work right

If you answered yes to any of the above, you might be infested with malware or spyware installed without your knowledge. These apps are exactly what they sound like: bad for your computer and spy on your work. Getting rid of them is dealt with in another post. Here, I’ll tell you how to pre-empt them–prevent them from happening so you don’t have to spend hours fixing them, hire an expensive computer guru, or give up and do the F word (format the C drive).

First, be sure you have good security:

• antivirus software (read this blog for information about Panda Cloud)
• install protection against malware, spyware and their cousins. You can find recommendations for Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot.
• use this free software regularly. It doesn’t work if you don’t run it.

That’s a start, but fellow-blogger, Dustin Wax, posted a great summary on Internet security I want to share with you.

8 Keys to Internet Security

Much more important than which antivirus program you use (or anti-spyware, or firewall, or any security software ), or even if you use one at all, are the practices that make up your online behavior. People who do risky stuff on the Internet will get a virus, sooner or later, regardless of how good their security software is. On the other hand, many security experts don’t use any antivirus software and still manage to avoid viruses.

I don’t recommend that you follow in the footsteps of the security experts – the nature of their calling demands a kind of paranoia that few of us can maintain. I recommend a solid package of security software (I run Cloud Antivirus and Windows Defender) but only as a safety net – something to pick up the slack when we make mistakes, not a first line of defense.

The thing with security, online or anywhere else, is that it’s always a trade-off between protection and convenience. I can tell you how to absolutely avoid any risk of computer virus, spyware, or trojan: stay offline and never install anything or use any removable storage media. That’s 100% perfect protection, but it would severely hinder your computer usage. It’s like securing a house: You could build a door-less, window-less titanium-sheathed reinforced-concrete bunker around your house and be absolutely sure burglars couldn’t get in, but you probably wouldn’t want to live there.

The tips below are sufficient to account for all but the most determined attacks against your computer. No amount of software or behavioral change can protect you from every possible attack (if the NSA wants to get on your PC, they are probably going to do so) but you can protect yourself from virtually all of the attacks you’re likely to face online.

1. Use a router.

The very nature of the way routers works acts as an effective hardware firewall, preventing access to computers on your home network from outside the network. Put simply, when you request something from the Internet – say, you click a link, check your email, or enter a URL – the router notes which computer on its network the request came from so it can send the reply to the proper recipient. If a would be intruder attempts to enter your network, the router checks its list of outgoing requests and, if none is found correlating to the attackers’ IP address, it ignores it. It basically doesn’t know which computer to send it to, so it throws it out.

If you simply cannot use a hardware router, make sure your operating system’s firewall is turned on. This is almost, but not entirely, as good.

2. Do not open email attachments.

I know, who doesn’t want to see pictures of Anna Kournikova naked, right? Email attachments are a major vector for infecting computers, because it’s so easy to fake the sender so the email looks like it came from someone you know, and everybody loves opening attachments from people they know. It could be a funny picture of penguins, after all. But bottom line, don’t open attachments. If your email client automatically opens or previews them, turn that feature off. Even if it’s from your mom, and even if your mom says she opened it and it’s fine, still don’t open it. (By the way, next time you’re at mom’s, reinstall Windows. She’s got tons of viruses now.)

Now, I know that sometimes you have to open attachments, so here’s a simple test to know when it is most likely safe to open an attachment:

You know that the email is from the person it says it’s from. That usually means that either they said they were sending it, or they’ve written a note that only they could have written.

You are expecting an attachment from that person. You know the person who created the file.

There is a compelling reason to open the attachment. I’m sorry, ma, but a good laugh isn’t enough to get me to risk my computer’s security.

If you can’t be absolutely, 100% sure on all these counts, trash it.

3. Do not download bittorrent files.

That sucks, I know, but since you’re never absolutely sure where the file comes from, where it’s been, or who might have altered it, bittorrent is risky. Downloading a Linux distribution from Ubuntu is probably ok; downloading it from Pirate’s Bay is a bit dodgy. Downloading Oscar screeners of movies that haven’t been released yet is super-duper dodgy. It’s a real shame to have to forego sticking it to The Man because of practical concerns, but you’re taking a big risk downloading an unknown file from an unknown person about whom the only thing you know is that they don’t feel any compunctions about breaking the law.

4. Do not download warez, porn, or other dubious files.

First they came for my bittorrents, then they came for my porn! It just gets worse and worse, doesn’t it. But really, think about it – people who distribute illegal copies of illegally hacked software a) are demonstrated lawbreakers, b) are familiar with programming code, and c) had access to the code you’re expecting to install on your computer. As for porn, while I’m sure there are plenty of Good Samaritans out there who distribute free pornography simply out of a desire for greater happiness in the world, some small number of them do it for financial gain. If they’re giving you free porn, they must be making money off you another way, and one of the easiest is to install a bunch of malware on your computer, run whatever code they want on it, and then sell the use of your computer to spammers, phishers, and other unsavory sorts. You want to know how bad these guys are? They don’t even care if they give pornography a bad name!

5. Do not download *anything* from sites you’re unfamiliar with.

Again, if you’re intending to install something you’ve downloaded onto your computer, you have to know that only people you trust have had access to it. Adobe, Microsoft, and other software manufacturers are generally trustworthy, as are sites like C|net’s Download.com. “Bob’s Free Software I Like a Whole Bunch” might not be quite as safe a bet.

6. Turn off Flash, Javascript, and other browser plugins.

Flash ads have been used to install viruses. So has Javascript code. You don’t have to do anything to get infected this way; you just visit a site with the malicious code on it and *bam*, you’re infected. Because of that, hardcore security folks turn off Javascript and either block or never install Flash. Personally, I think it limits the usefulness of the Internet too much; I’ve decided to risk running Javascript, and use the FlashBlock plugin in Firefox so I can select which Flash objects on a page I want to run (allowing me, for instance, to watch YouTube videos while preventing Flash ads on the same page from loading).

7. Do not click links in email.

It’s very easy to hide the real destination of links sent in email by using HTML where the text reads “www.perfectlysafesiteyouknowandtrust.com” but the actual URL is “www.reallybadsiterunbymeanpeoplewithnofriends.net”. This is how phishing scams work – you think you’re going to PayPal or your bank, but really you’re going to a page designed to look just like your bank’s login page but hosted on the mean people’s server. Also, bad guys often put unique tracking IDs into links, so that they know exactly who clicked on a link – which means that they know which email addresses out of the millions they sent spam to are valid, which makes them worth more money to other spammers. Um, yay?

7a. Do not click shortened URLs.

I don’t like this one, because I like Twitter and you lose a lot of functionality if you don’t use a service like bit.ly or is.gd to shorten URLs, but these links are scary. When you hover your mouse over a link, the URL appears in the email or browser’s status bar, meaning you can verify that the link heads to where it says it does. When you do the same with a shortened URL, it just says the shortened URL. There are Firefox extensions like UnTiny that will reveal the true destination of shortened URLs, and some Twitter clients do as well, but until a universal solution is standardized, these URLs remain a bit scary, security-wise.

8. Install all security updates.

Unless you’re a multi-national mega-corporation running oodles of mission-critical custom-designed software, you need to install security updates as quickly as possible upon release. If remembering to do this isn’t something you think you’d be likely to do, set your computer to automatically download and install updates. Increasingly, we’re seeing “0-day” exploits – viruses and trojans written to make use of security flaws before those flaws are corrected by – or, in some cases, even known to – manufacturers. Keeping up-to-date is essential to keep even marginally safe.

I know that, the world being what it is, someone will be thinking right about now, “Hey, why don’t you just switch to Mac OS X or Linux?” It’s true, those operating systems get far fewer viruses and other problems than Windows PCs, but most experts seem to agree that this is at least in part because there are so many Windows PCs and so few Mac and Linux PCs. (There are plenty of Linux servers, but those are under professional supervision, which goes a long way towards making up for any security weaknesses Linux has.) Bad guys program for the system that allows the greatest spread of their malware, and right now, that’s Windows.

But if you’re still not convinced, I’ve got an even better idea for you. Both Mac OS X and Linux have demonstrated security vulnerabilities, and as they become more common are likely to become targets for hackers. So they’re not really safe bets. Instead, try BeOS! It may be riddled with security holes and only run on Pentium 4 and earlier PCs, but I can guarantee you, nobody is writing viruses for it!

For everyone else, whether you use Windows, Mac, or Linux, make sure to follow the rules above and, chances are, you’ll be just fine.

Why I like PCs Better Than Macs

I have used both Macs and PCs at different times in my career, but the more I use computers, the more I lean toward

Mac vs. PC

PC’s. I’m an inveterate Windows-hater and I still would pick the PC over an Apple.

So I asked myself, Why? I complain to my classes about Bill Gates. I whine every time the system crashes or I have to run my virus protection software because the Latest and Greatest Virus has been unleashed on the world. Still, when parents ask, I recommend a PC.

Here are my reasons:

• No right-click on the mouse

This alone is reason enough. I love the two buttons on the mouse, and the fact that when I use the one on the right side of the mouse, a menu drops down with the most likely choices for what I might want to do at the moment. It changes depending upon the program (if I’m on the desktop, it allows me to open a new document; if I’m in Word, it allows me to paste from the clipboard), or what you’re doing in the program (if I right-click on a word, I can select synonyms; if I right-click on a picture, I can format it). Sometimes, I don’t know which of the program’s menu bar choices will solve a problem, but nine times out of ten, what I need shows up on that right-click menu. How does anyone live without it? Even the internet has it (though it isn’t as functional) so why doesn’t Mac add it?

• Only one way to do things

I can’t always remember the ‘one way’ I’m supposed to do things. My way of thinking isn’t always like the guy who programs the software–he thinks like a programmer. Does Mac understand ‘multi-intelligences’–people learn in different ways. I guess not, because you pretty much have to follow one path to accomplish a task on a Mac.

• It’s still a PC world

I am a capitalist, so I like competition. I passionately dislike Bill Gates’ monopoly of MS Office and am trying to get my school to switch to Open Office or Google Docs–anything more equitable and more affordable for the world.

But, the reality is, it’s a PC world. Only 8% of computers are Macs so if you need to be competent, fast, efficient, and compatible, that means a PC.

• More compatible with the virtual world

More and more, the world is connected via the internet, email, twitter, online file sharing. The list goes on and on. If you want to share docs with people, they need to be in a format that’s readable by the most people. That still means PC. Until that changes (which I hope will be when the Open Access platforms take over), you need to provide a document that can be widely read.

I know Mac has tried to get around this by enabling Mac’s to run the Mac OS and Windows. This sounds good, but it adds a complexity that Mac users like to avoid (I think PC users like the challenge of solving problems more than Mac users, but that’s a different issue). Now they have to understand both the tricks of OS and Windows

• Macs are still more expensive than PCs

I don’t know why. Do they cost more to produce? Macs are prettier–is that why? One reason is Applie has tried to squelch capitalism by not allowing clones. PC’s allowed those almost from the beginning which kept the price down and contributed to their rampant spread. You can get a desktop by Gateway, HP, Dell or a generic made by the local computer shop. They all work fine because of the generic compatibility of parts. Macs are all made by Apple.

I don’t get it.

• Mac people are like a cult. I have an inherent distrust of such an emotional approach to purchasing

They are rabid in their passion for Macs. When you discuss shortfalls, their response is, Those don’t matter. That right-mouse click does matter–to me and a whole lot more people! They consider themselves as part of a community, not a computer user. I see a computer as a tool. They see it as a community. Maybe that’s why I don’t get it.

• It’s easier to customize a PC than a Mac.

Easier, cheaper, because there are more options. Because PCs have a larger market share. That’s capitalism. Until we become socialists and tell programmers what to program and people what to buy, both will make their choices based on supply and demand. I kind of like that.

I do think Macs are simpler, for the newbie, but that means they’re less powerful for the experienced user. And ‘experience’ is relative. It arrives fairly early for those of us who use computers a lot.

Am I wrong? Let me know.

Textbooks Should be Digital, not Hard Copies

Digital textbooks are coming, whether publishers want them or not. California announced 17 will be rolled out for the new school year. Not a lot, but a start, and once students and teachers use them, they’re going to love them. Because of budgets, it’ll probably take until the current hard copy textbooks must be replaced, but I predict by then it’ll be a no-brainer, that Amazon and all the others who have digital book readers will come up with a way to get those into the hands of students for little or no cost, to sell their digital books.

A deeper look at the problems oft-quoted as standing in the way of digital shows they are easily solved:

• Everyone can’t read a digital book because of the various formats. Not if you sell the book as a pdf file like Scribd.com does. Then, it’ll pop up on any computer.
• Everyone doesn’t have a computer. First, schools should have a 1:1 ratio of computers/students, but that’s another issue. The money schools save on textbooks will fund either the computers or the readers. Or, as I said, digital textbook publishers will figure out how to solve that problem to sell their books. (An aside on the price of textbooks. If you haven’t bought any college texts lately, Google them. They are the high-end of pricey books)
• Students can’t take notes on digital books. (I can’t believe someone offered this one up) With digital textbooks and unlike current texts, students can highlight and bookmark important parts of a chapter, even copy it to their notes, then erase it all at the end of the school year.

I’ll give you a real-life example. I sell my technology textbook on integrating technology into the classroom for $24.97 on Amazon and $13.97 on Scribd.com.

Here’s another story (read my post about digital textbooks here), this one from NYT, discussing the importance of digital textbooks:

In a Digital Future, Textbooks Are History

By TAMAR LEWIN
At Empire High School in Vail, Ariz., students use computers provided by the school to get their lessons, do their homework and hear podcasts of their teachers’ science lectures.

Down the road, at Cienega High School, students who own laptops can register for “digital sections” of several English, history and science classes. And throughout the district, a Beyond Textbooks initiative encourages teachers to create — and share — lessons that incorporate their own PowerPoint presentations, along with videos and research materials they find by sifting through reliable Internet sites.

Textbooks have not gone the way of the scroll yet, but many educators say that it will not be long before they are replaced by digital versions — or supplanted altogether by lessons assembledfrom the wealth of free courseware, educational games, videos and projects on the Web.

“Kids are wired differently these days,” said Sheryl R. Abshire, chief technology officer for the Calcasieu Parish school system in Lake Charles, La. “They’re digitally nimble. They multitask, transpose and extrapolate. And they think of knowledge as infinite.

“They don’t engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote,” Dr. Abshire continued. “Teachers need digital resources to find those documents, those blogs, those wikis that get them beyond the plain vanilla curriculum in the textbooks.”

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this summer announced an initiative that would replace some high school science and math texts with free, “open source” digital versions.
With California in dire straits, the governor hopes free textbooks could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

And given that students already get so much information from the Internet, iPods and Twitter feeds, he said, digital texts could save them from lugging around “antiquated, heavy, expensive textbooks.”
The initiative, the first such statewide effort, has attracted widespread attention, since California, together with Texas, dominates the nation’s textbook market.

Many superintendents are enthusiastic.

“In five years, I think the majority of students will be using digital textbooks,” said William M. Habermehl, superintendent of the 500,000-student Orange County schools. “They can be better than traditional textbooks.”
Schools that do not make the switch, Mr. Habermehl said, could lose their constituency.

“We’re still in a brick-and-mortar, 30-students-to-1-teacher paradigm,” Mr. Habermehl said, “but we need to get out of that framework to having 200 or 300 kids taking courses online, at night, 24/7, whenever they want.”
“I don’t believe that charters and vouchers are the threat to schools in Orange County,” he said. “What’s a threat is the digital world — that someone’s going to put together brilliant $200 courses in French, in geometry by the best teachers in the world.”

But the digital future is not quite on the horizon in most classrooms. For one thing, there is still a large digital divide. Not every student has access to a computer, a Kindle electronic reader device or a smartphone, and few districts are wealthy enough to provide them. So digital textbooks could widen the gap between rich and poor.

“A large portion of our kids don’t have computers at home, and it would be way too costly to print out the digital textbooks,” said Tim Ward, assistant superintendent for instruction in California’s 24,000-student Chaffey Joint Union High School District, where almost half the students are from low-income families.

Many educators expect that digital textbooks and online courses will start small, perhaps for those who want to study a subject they cannot fit into their school schedule or for those who need a few more credits to graduate.
Although California education authorities are reviewing 20 open-source high school math and science texts to make sure they meet California’s exacting academic standards in time for use this fall — and will announce this week which ones meet state standards — quick adoption is unlikely.

“I want our teachers to have the best materials available, and with digital textbooks, we could see the best lessons taught by the most dynamic teachers,” said John A. Roach, superintendent of the Carlsbad, Calif., schools. “But they’re not going to replace paper texts right away.”

Whenever it comes, the online onslaught — and the competition from open-source materials — poses a real threat to traditional textbook publishers.

Pearson, the nation’s largest one, submitted four texts in California, all of them already available online, as free supplements to their texts.

“We believe that the world is going digital, but the jury’s still out on how this will evolve,” said Wendy Spiegel, a Pearson spokeswoman. “We’re agnostic, so we’ll provide digital, we’ll provide print, and we’ll see what our customers want.”

Most of the digital texts submitted for review in California came from a nonprofit group, CK-12 Foundation, that develops free “flexbooks” that can be customized to meet state standards, and added to by teachers. Its physics flexbook, a Web-based, open-content compilation, was introduced in Virginia in March.

“The good part of our flexbooks is that they can be anything you want,” said Neeru Khosla, a founder of the group. “You can use them online, you can download them onto a disk, you can print them, you can customize them, you can embed video. When people get over the mind-set issue, they’ll see that there’s no reason to pay $100 a pop for a textbook, when you can have the content you want free.”

The move to open-source materials is well under way in higher education — and may be accelerated by President Obama’s proposal to invest in creating free online courses as part of his push to improve community colleges.

Around the world, hundreds of universities, including M.I.T. and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, now use and share open-source courses. Connexions, a Rice University nonprofit organization devoted to open-source learning, submitted an algebra text to California.

But given the economy, many educators and technology experts agree that the K-12 digital revolution may be further off.

“There’s a lot of stalled purchasing and decision making right now,” said Mark Schneiderman, director of federal education policy at the Software & Information Industry Association. “But it’s going to happen.”
For all the attention to the California initiative, digital textbooks are only the start of the revolution in educational technology.

“We should be bracing ourselves for way more interactive, way more engaging videos, activities and games,” said Marina Leight of the Center for Digital Education, which promotes digital education through surveys, publications and meetings.

Vail’s Beyond Textbooks effort has moved in that direction. In an Empire High School history class on elections, for example, students created their own political parties, campaign Web sites and videos.

“Students learn the same concepts, but in a different way,” said Matt Donaldson, Empire’s principal.

“We’ve mapped out our state standards,” Mr. Donaldson said, “and our teachers have identified whatever resources they feel best covers them, whether it’s a project they created themselves or an interesting site on the Internet. What they don’t do, generally, is take chapters from textbooks.”

Top Ten Free Apps to Install on a New Computer

This is a question I always get from parents of my tech students. My fellow-blogger, Dustin, has a good start, although I’ll add a few more tomorrow.

1. Panda Cloud Antivirus

If you did the right thing and uninstalled Norton or McAfee (the two antivirus programs PC manufacturers get paid big bucks to include on their machines), the Windows Security Center will be bugging you about your system being unprotected. So, first order of business is to install a new antivirus. I used to use the free AVG Antivirus, but I’ve found that at some point – in every version of AVG I’ve used – it stops updating automatically. So a few months ago I decided to try Panda’s free Cloud Antivirus, and I’ve been very happy: updates happen in the background, files and problems are quietly taken care of, and it only ever bugs me if it needs my attention to decide what to do about a detected virus. This is the antivirus I’ve installed on all my family’s PCs, too, since it runs virtually undetected.

2. Firefox

IE8 is a big improvement over previous incarnations of Internet Explorer, but so is a husband who only beats you once a week instead of everyday. Frankly, I’ve had enough of IE. It’s still packed with the same annoyances as always, and its neat new features are so dense and obscure I don’t think anyone will make much use of them any time soon.

Firefox, on the other hand, is by now like a comfortable pair of shoes – it works well, it makes sense, and it’s getting better and better. Sure, it takes up about a Godzilla-byte of memory, but other than that, it’s Good Software. And of course, it’s vastly extensible, making it not just a browser for me but a research tool (with the addition of plugins for Evernote and Zotero) and webmastering tool (with Scribefire and FireFTP plugins). The only real downside is that every update seems to break every extension – but at least it has extensions!

3. OpenOffice.org

I own a copy of Office 2007 Pro (I got it free at an industry event) but I still install OpenOffice.org. (The dot-org is part of the software’s name, for reasons known only to the demons who inhabit the 6th level of software marketing Hell.) The free productivity suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation creator, database, and graphics editor – everything just about anyone needs to get work done. Some things it does better than MS Office, like handling bibliographic citations. Most things it does just as well. And it’s some $400 less than the comparable version of MS Office.

4. Thunderbird

Although Microsoft’s Outlook Express got a new name and a facelift in Vista, it remains the same piece of cr-… er, software it’s always been, with all its limitations. Outlook is great for businesses, but it’s overkill for most people – and can bog down even powerful systems. Mozilla’s Thunderbird occupies the “just right” chair, offering an interface similar to the Outlook/Outlook Express interface and plenty of power. Plus, like Firefox, you can customize its functionality with a wide range of plugins.

5. Picasa

You might have thought I’d have said “The GIMP” for a free graphics editor, but most people don’t need that kind of power. For organizing snapshots and applying the occasional red-eye reduction, color or contrast adjustment, and novelty effect, I like Picasa. The interface is easy to use, it integrates easily with Google’s web-based Picasa Web Albums service, allowing me to easily share photos or groups of photos, and it does basic photo editing tasks well.

6. Skype

In class yesterday I mentioned Skype and a student asked “What’s Skype”?” Only 2 of 10 students had heard of it! Oh, man – get Skype!!! Skype is a voice-over-Internet system that works, and works well. Voice or video calls to other Skype users are free, no matter where they are and where you are. The optional SkypeIn and SkypeOut services let you accept calls from and make calls to regular phones (landlines or mobile) for very reasonable rates – I think I pay about $60 a year for the complete package, which gives me unlimited calls anywhere in the US and Canada, unlimited incoming calls at my own phone number in my area code, and of course voice mail. I use it all the time, too, to interview sources for articles – and back when I was doing Lifehack Live, I used it occasionally to record my podcasts (using the CallGraph plugin, a free Skype call recorder).

7. VLC Media Player

While it lacks the style and pizzazz of iTunes or Windows Media Player, VLC has those other media players beat hands-down for one good reason: it plays everything. Oddball video formats, open source audio codecs, Flash videos – whatever you have, chances are, VLC plays it. It has other features, too, but I never use them. For me, VLC is simply the must-have video player. There’s a portable version that can be run off a flash drive, too, which is handy for me since I often want to show videos in class and I’m not sure the machine provided will have the right codecs.

8. Handbrake

You want to put videos on your portable media player, you get Handbrake. It’s that simple. Handbrake is easy to use (a lot of video transcoding software forces you to deal with all sorts of questions about muxing, bitrates, and so on; handbrake has a bunch of presets, although more advanced control is there if you need it). Handbrake works with DVDs or video on your hard drive, so whatever the source, you can likely get it onto your Zune (or even iPod if you’re one of the few that owns one).

(OK, give a guy a break – it’s funny!)

9. Digsby or Pidgin

What instant messaging network is everyone you would ever want to chat with on? Wait, you mean, they’re not all on the same network? Where do you live, reality?!

If you do live in reality and your friends, family, and other contacts are scattered across several different IM networks, you’ll want to install either Digsby or Pidgin, both of which are fine IM clients that hook up to most of the available IM networks. I use Digsby, because I like the way I can theme the interface (with big, chunky text for my old eyes!), and because it includes Facebook support, which Pidgin doesn’t (but Pidgin works with a lot of networks Digsby doesn’t support – it’s a question of which ones you want or need to use). In both, you can log into all your IM networks at the same time, and see all your contacts regardless of which network they’re on.

10. CDBurnerXP

CDBurnerXP is neither limited to burning CDs not limited to systems running Windows XP. Go figure. Anyway, it burns CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, ISOs and other disc images – heck, it even supports LightScribe! A great substitute for expensive (and notoriously bug-prone) Nero and Roxio suites if neither came with your computer.

Once I’ve installed those 10 apps, I’ve got a pretty good system set up, and I’m ready to get to work. What about you? What free software is at the top of your list when you’re setting up a new system? Let us know in the comments.

Government IT Departments Still Confused by Cloud Computing

Well, they have a lot of company. Most people have no idea why the words ‘cloud’ and ‘computing’ are together in one sentence. Before you read the article, here’s a video that might help:

US govt IT departments still confused by cloud computing

By Robin Hicks | 3 August 2009

Federal officials in the United States think that cloud computing will play a big role in future government IT initiatives. But they are still confused about what cloud computing is and want security assurances before adopting it on a large scale, a survey of federal IT managers has found. (more)

Blogging for Education

This post was submitted to Teacher Certification Map to raise awareness for educational charities and the important role they play. It won a contest and the website will now donate $500 to Teachers without Borders. To learn more about the effort, check out Blogging for Education

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Teachers Without Borders

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be.

Thomas Jefferson recognized the relationship between education and freedom hundreds of years ago, so why do we still expect nations to do the glorious mountain building required of their future without the bedrock of teachers? We ask the world to ‘cut carbon emissions’ without teaching them science. We ask them to understand us without teaching them culture. We ask them to consider the consequences of their actions without teaching them history. We ask them to look to the numbers for proof without teaching them math.

Teachers are the world’s fixers. They show us how to use that complicated organ inside our head to solve problems, to get along, to talk to each other.

But, you say, we have no teachers. Teachers Without Borders brings them to you.

It is with difficulty I distill the many activities of these teachers without borders to my three favorites. Let’s just call them the top three:

1. Scholastic’s TeacherShare - allows all Scholastic users (with free sign-up) access  to educational resources at the K-8 level
2. Open Educational Resources (OER). These are free, high-quality, reusable content for teachers around the world. Did I mention Free?
3. A free teacher-training program called the Certificate of Teaching Mastery (CTM). It is self-paced and mentor-supported.

Teachers Without Borders is in twenty-six countries. You can make that twenty-seven.

Do You Know Where Your Sysadmin is Today?

I had no idea, until I read this Wall Street Journal Story…

Are You Celebrating SysAdmin Day?

By Andrew LaVallee

To all the men and women recovering our corrupted files, connecting our BlackBerrys, giving us admin rights when their boss isn’t looking, or simply waiting patiently while we reboot, today is your day.

NBC

Jimmy Fallon as Nick Burns, “Your Company’s Computer Guy,” in a recurring “Saturday Night Live” sketch

The last Friday of July is designated System Administrator Appreciation Day, according, naturally, to its official Web site.

“Let’s face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year,” it says. ” If you can read this, thank your sysadmin — and know he or she is only one of dozens or possibly hundreds whose work brings you the email from your aunt on the West Coast, the instant message from your son at college, the free phone call from the friend in Australia, and this webpage.” (In case you need help spreading the word, the site has thoughtfully included 13 social-media widgets.)

Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow called it “pretty much my favorite holiday of the year — the day when we celebrate the unsung heroes of the wiring closet and the server room and the admin interface.” ReadWriteWeb gives 10 gift suggestions, both fun (bedtime stories, song-singing) and serious (let them keep their jobs).

How to Hack Passwords

Here’s the guy who knows. Read this article. It’s important! I’ve summarized some of its critical parts:

How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords

If you invited me to try and crack your password, you know the one that you use over and over for like every web page you visit, how many guesses would it take before I got it?

Let’s see… here is my top 10 list.

1. Your partner, child, or pet’s name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they’re always making you use a number, aren’t they?)
2. The last 4 digits of your social security number.
3. 123 or 1234 or 123456.
4. “password”
5. Your city, or college, football team name.
6. Date of birth – yours, your partner’s or your child’s.
7. “god”
8. “letmein”
9. “money”
10. “love”

Statistically speaking that should probably cover about 20% of you. But don’t worry. If I didn’t get it yet it will probably only take a few more minutes before I do…

So, how would one use this process to actually breach your personal security? Simple. Follow my logic:

• You probably use the same password for lots of stuff right?
• Some sites you access such as your Bank or work VPN probably have pretty decent security, so I’m not going to attack them.
• However, other sites like the Hallmark e-mail greeting cards site, an online forum you frequent, or an e-commerce site you’ve shopped at might not be as well prepared. So those are the ones I’d work on.
• So, all we have to do now is unleash Brutus, wwwhack, or THC Hydra on their server with instructions to try say 10,000 (or 100,000 – whatever makes you happy) different usernames and passwords as fast as possible.
• Once we’ve got several login+password pairings we can then go back and test them on targeted sites.
• But wait… How do I know which bank you use and what your login ID is for the sites you frequent? All those cookies are simply stored, unencrypted and nicely named, in your Web browser’s cache. (Read this post to remedy that problem.)

…

Here are some password tips:

1. Randomly substitute numbers for letters that look similar. The letter ‘o’ becomes the number ‘0′, or even better an ‘@’ or ‘*’. (i.e. – m0d3ltf0rd… like modelTford)
2. Randomly throw in capital letters (i.e. – Mod3lTF0rd)
3. Think of something you were attached to when you were younger, but DON’T CHOOSE A PERSON’S NAME! Every name plus every word in the dictionary will fail under a simple brute force attack.
4. Maybe a place you loved, or a specific car, an attraction from a vacation, or a favorite restaurant?
5. You really need to have different username / password combinations for everything. Remember, the technique is to break into anything you access just to figure out your standard password, then compromise everything else. This doesn’t work if you don’t use the same password everywhere.
6. Since it can be difficult to remember a ton of passwords, I recommend using Roboform. It will store all of your passwords in an encrypted format and allow you to use just one master password to access all of them. It will also automatically fill in forms on Web pages, and you can even get versions that allow you to take your password list with you on your PDA, phone or a USB key. If you’d like to download it without having to navigate their web site here is the direct download link.
7. Once you’ve thought of a password, try Microsoft’s password strength tester to find out how secure it is.

What’s Your Carbon Footprint

Try this carbon-footprint calculator with your students or your kids. It’s an eye-opener. Most people think they do a lot to protect the environment, but this will let them know if what they’re doing will work.

This includes automobiles, air travel and home. It’s a bit simplistic, but serves as a conversation starter.

9 Reasons to Quit Teaching and Ten to Stay

I found this in The Apple, an interesting website on the ups and downs of teaching.With so many teachers out of work, I’ll bet they’re all going through the decision making process: In balance, is this a win for me?

Face it, you are not as good of a teacher as you could be. You’re not living up to your potential. Nobody is. There are many reasons to quit, here are 9:

1. Bad students
2. Bad administrators
3. Bad curriculum
4. Too much paperwork
5. Too much negativity
6. Too much responsibility
7. Not enough time
8. Not enough credit
9. Not enough PAY

Where am I?

Seth Godin says that you are in The Dip. What’s The Dip?. This is that place where it feels like nothing you do matters. Things were going so well until you hit The Dip. It’s when you get to that point where you realize that indeed, the honeymoon is over. When the tide has turned and things are not as easy as they once were? The Dip is where both champions and quitters are proven. The picture shows you where The Dip is. (for the reasons to stay, read on)

Survivors Guilt and Teaching–Why Me?

Being laid off is one of the top five stressors, along with:

• Death of a family member or friend
• Economic hardship
• Marrying or divorcing
• Having a child

The American Psychologic Association says this about stress:

• 62% of Americans say work has a significant impact on stress levels. (APA Survey 2004)
• 52% of workers are more stressed because of work than home. (APA Survey 2004)
• 54% of workers are concerned about health problems caused by stress. (APA Survey 2004)
• 45% of workers list job insecurity has a significant impact on work stress levels. (APA Survey 2004)
• 61% of workers list heavy workloads as a significant impact on work stress levels. (APA Survey 2004)
• One in four workers have taken a mental health day off from work to cope with stress. (APA Survey 2004)
• 73% of Americans name money as the number one factor that affects their stress level. (APA Survey 2004)

So it’s no surprise that when an employee is RIF’d, it can leave them with post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve seen this in many of my fellow teachers who along with more than 26,000 California teachers, were ‘let go’. No matter that the fault lay with the ‘unbusiness’ people we’ve elected and named our State representatives to balance the state budget, they take it personally. When our Leaders lay teachers and policemen off rather than downsizing parks or control the cost of illegal immigration, they are playing the emotion card. Give us more money or here’s what happens. We don’t do that at home. We cut the excess.

But I digress. My fellow teachers are left to feel worthless, lost. What did they do wrong? How could they have done their job better? Their principals and administrators should assure them it’s not personal, it’s the economy, but they don’t always, or they aren’t heard, and ex-teachers end up with a bad case of PTSD. They’re spending their summer working through it.

Those of us left behind get Survivors Guilt–a phenomenon often experienced by those who escape from a disaster that seriously injures and kills others. Why not me? My good fortune is at the expense of others. Did I do something to save my job that harmed my colleagues? I feel guilty because I’m not better than them.

It’s been a month and I still can’t make sense of it. My ex-colleagues are job hunting while I spend my time coping with a self-image that has been violently shattered. I thought I knew myself, but nothing about this makes sense.

Time magazine said it like this:

Here’s how it feels to be one of the lucky ones: “It’s depressing,” says a market researcher in New York City who recently watched an entire division of her company be jettisoned. “You walk into the office and it’s quiet, the entire atmosphere is different. When someone gets promoted you want to say, ‘That’s great,’ but then you realize they got the job because the two other people in that group got laid off; this person was cheaper. You start feeling evil. People say at least you have a job, you should be grateful. Well, I’m not sure how happy I am. And then I feel selfish about that.”

Why not me? Will I recover by September when the new year starts?