Flippity

This week the eBook paper that I read was by Steve P about Flippity (you can find the source HERE).  It is a tool that allows you to load a spreadsheet onto the website and create all kinds of fun tools with it. You can make flash cards, word searches, a random name picker, games like bingo and hangman and more. 

Think of all the cool things you can do with a tool like that. 

• Help you  memorize client names
• Use the random name picker to draw a name for a prize selection
• Make an office game for a morale booster
• Help make studying fun and easy for everyone

Check out flippity here: http://flippity.net/

What might you use it for?  Are there any tools you use that are similar?  Any other thoughts? Comment below. 

My Most Useful Tool

What is more important than your time? Your time with loved ones, you time learning and growing, your time having fun... time is life.  This is why that my most useful tool is Google Calendar.  It is the great organizer of my time.  There are a lot of things you may not know about Google Calendar if you aren't using it:

• When you create an event, there is a 'Find a Time' tab that lets you see when 2+ people have open time slots so you can plan an event that works with everyone's schedule. 
• You can share an event with many people and they can RSVP on the calendar so you can know who to expect. 
• If people can't make it to an event, you can make a link in the calendar event to join via a Hangouts video call.
• You can share your calendars with others and others can share with you so you can keep track of your family, friends, and co-workers. 
• You can also create a calendar from Google's library of calendars.  My Husband likes to keep the Boise State Football calendar up so he can be sure to schedule things around their games.  
• You can create a sharable link so that other people can schedule appointments with you during the hours that you set. 

You can find other useful Google Calendar information and more information on the things listed above at this website: https://www.pcmag.com/feature/333566/14-google-calendar-tricks-you-re-probably-not-using/13

Spam-a-lot

Do you ever wonder why every email account eventually starts to get spam?  Not to be confused with the canned mystery meat shown in the picture above, spam is the junk email that we all get overtime.  If you want to actually use your email address, you will eventually get spam.  

Email addresses are meant to be shared so we can communicate with others.  Companies require email addresses for buying things online or creating online accounts.  It is the sharing of emails that makes our accounts more vulnerable to spam.  Information from databases are stolen all the time, part of that stolen information includes your email.  Even if you don't click on any dangerous links that leak your information, other people you know may do it which can leak their email address book; that address book includes your email.  And if none of that happens, there are other ways people can get them including going through email accounts one-by-one to see if they are taken. 

It is usually not a good idea to open spam email because of the risks involved, but I have included a video below of a guy who replies to spam emails.  It think it is a excellent video to watch not only because it is hilarious, but because it can make you more aware of what is out there and what things to look for in scams. 

The following video is from Ted Talks which is a great source for inspiring presentations and growth: 

Nerrrrrrrrrrrd

Th infographic that I created with Canva

Negative parts of technology aside, people are working on some super sweet technology projects. How cool is it that we live in a day and age that we have technology that was only a reality in past movies.  In Star Wars, they use hologram technology when they communicate; this might be our  future form of communication.   People are already using hologram technology.  Check out this video with a Michael Jackson hologram:



Some other cool tech projects in the works:

• People are also figuring out ways to use interactive projections.  Check out THIS link to see a little more about that. 
• Technology is helping with brain damage: check out the link HERE. 
• A body scanner that might help people order fitted clothes in the future: Click HERE. 

Making Movies with Movie Maker

This week we had to use Screencast-o-matic.  I feel that the only good use of screencasting is for tutorials of your computer screen.  I know you can use it for creating presentations but the quality of a presentation is much better if you use video editing software.  So I used Screencast-o-matic to make a very basic and short tutorial on video editing with Windows Movie Maker.


 


The reason that I chose Windows Movie Maker is that most Windows computers already come with it installed. Windows Movie Maker is a very basic program that doesn't have very many options so I encourage people who are interested in trying video editing, to try other software. HERE is a link to Video Studio by Corel.  They offer a free trial of their software and they have some pretty neat editing options for making videos; you can edit audio to sound the way you want, you can add mutliple layers of pictures and videos, there are more animation/transition options, etc.

I have used video editing software to add slideshow slides and audio together to make high definition presentations.  I also like to use it to join my picture and video collections together with music to make home videos and gifts for people. 

Have you ever used video editing software?  What might you use it for?  Is there anything that holds you back from using video editing software? Click HERE  and leave any comments you have below.

Opportunity for Advancement

Link to picture HERE

When I was a kid, my family would sometimes play the Atari.  The picture above is from the Atari game Pac-Man.  The graphics were only 2-D and the sounds weren't the full orchestra soundtracks you find on games today.  Over the years it has been fun to watch how games have improved.  Now they have virtual reality headsets you can wear that make you feel like you are actually in the game.

Toys have also improved over the years.  Everyone can now build their own working robots.  LEGO has different robot packs you can buy called MINDSTORMS.  People are able to program the robots and use a phone/tablet app to control them. Amazon has a STEM club; Science, Technology, Engineering and Math toys. With the Amazon STEM club, you join a subscription for once a month, every other month, or every three month and they will send you an age appropriate STEM toy at that frequency (cancel at anytime).

Another "toy" people are using: drones. People are able to fly drones around the sky and take videos and pictures from new perspectives:

Did you see the show they did with drones at the Olympics? Check out the picture below!
There are so many things we can do with new technology!

Find the picture HERE

A little privacy please!

The world is so much more connected than it was in the past due to the internet! There is so much information sharing going on that we sometimes forget how unsafe it can be.  As we become more connected, we are also making ourselves more vulnerable to becoming targets. We sometimes put more trust into technology than we should.

The data market is booming so the more data collection websites can do, the better. Social media websites want more site traffic and don't always have your security in their best interest.  Even when a website has great security measures, they can still be hacked into and information can be stolen.

People who have had bad things happen to them from sharing their information, didn't believe that anything would happen to them, but something did. People have been blackmailed, people have had their identities stolen, people have had money taken, people have had their technology devices taken-over, people have been stalked and even killed.  I just wanted to create this blog post as a friendly reminder to check your online security. 

Check out these links for some great tips to increase your security:

1. Online Privacy in Under 1 Hour: Improve Your Security Fast
2. How to improve your online security and privacy in 10 easy steps

What do you do to keep your stuff safe?  Have you or anyone you know had problems with online security before? Click HERE to leave any comments below.

Barrier - obstacle that keeps you in or out, depending on where you stand

I think most people have heard about the Great Wall of China, but have you heard about the Great Firewall of China? The Great Firewall of China refers to the virtual barrier that China has created for filtering/monitoring internet usage.  They only allow content that is favorable to the communist party and other political views.

China isn't the only country that has strict internet restrictions.  There are other countries who also filter email accounts, use keyword filters, and website blockers (you can find more information about different restrictions HERE).  In some of these countries, people have been punished for the content they have placed on the internet with things like jail time and even death.

Here in the United States, we have very limited censorship.  We are able to access all kinds of content from all over.  We do have some laws that require censorship on things like obscene materials, but most web content is easy enough for us to obtain (you can find some of those laws HERE).  There are, however, internet companies that have a large amount of power over what we are primarily exposed to.  Companies like Google and Facebook can control what content they want us to see; what content shows up first in our searches, feeds, and ads.

Internet censorship can be a good thing, it can protect people from accessing harmful material, but it is important to remember that it is one more way your world is altered and manipulated.  It can distort the way people feel and think about things.

What are your thoughts about internet censorship?  Do you think anything should be done about it? Do you think there will be consequences from it overtime? Click HERE to comment.

One of the best ways to persuade others is by listening to them - Dean Rusk

Take a look at the following pictures below and think about how they can manipulate you to think and feel a certain way about war and soldiers. 

There are people out there who collect data on the things you do, and use it to persuade you and manipulate the way you do things. If you are like me, you have probably noticed your set of keys growing over the years with all the savings cards from every store.  All those special savings cards are tracking your purchases and learning about the way you spend money.   The websites that you visit are saving tracking cookies to your browser to keep track of your interests so they can maximize advertisements.

I recently read another post on the Mind Shift blog about how tech companies like Google, Facebook and YouTube manipulate you (you can find that article HERE).  They are able to apply behavioral techniques and neuroscience to keep your attention.  One of the tactics used is auto-play videos.  When a video auto-plays, you don't have to hit any buttons or make a choice to watch, it happens on its own. Auto-play videos grab your attention better and keep your attention longer by playing other videos. Facebook has created an algorithm for notifications similar to what slot machines use, called variable rewards.  Notifications can be a trigger for a reward response in the brain and the algorithm creates a timing for these notifications that keeps you hooked longer. These big companies have been dumping money into this science; learning the audience and figuring out ways to keep the audience's attention.

What if we used the same science and technology to help teach people important lessons?  Could we use something like 'variable rewards' in a good way?  OR do you think it would be worth it to dump loads of money into other science and technology to help with teaching things people need?  Tell me your thoughts. 

Negative Nancy vs Positive Polly

I never got a cell phone until after I was an adult, and that cell phone flipped open and had no cameras, apps, or fancy ringtones.  There are many times I look back on my cellphone-less childhood and wish we could go back to those simpler times.  But why? Yes there were some great things about that time, but there were also some negatives.  Yes there are some negative things about all the easy access technology now, but there are also a lot of positives! 

There are so many possibilities with the technology we have today!

Let's starts with some of the negatives of technology today:

• It is distracting: think about how much time is wasted looking up things that don't matter (cat memes fall in this category- I am sorry but it is true, people use to live full happy lives without cat memes) , or scrolling through feeds full of nonsense (what are we ever really looking for in those anyway). 
• Privacy: people can easily find and use information on you and your family.   When you go on vacation, your friends and your co-workers can bug you on your cell phone. 
• People's jobs are replaced by machinery. 
• We become dependent on technology.  I am sure we have all worked somewhere where the internet went down or a computer wasn't working properly; when that happens, it is hard to do anything. 
• The possibility of more miscommunication due to lack of social cues.
• Cyber bullying, Scams, Identity Theft, etc. 

What about some of the positives: 

• Disneyland (it's a big one for me).  That place is downright magical thanks to so much awesome technology. 
• It is easier and faster than ever to connect with family and friends from all distances (if you are into that sort of thing). 
• If you are a parent like me, technology can be a life saver when you use it to distract your kids so you can get a little homework done. 
• We save money and trees by going paperless.
• Technology can speed up manufacturing and human efficiency.  We are now able to look at data and make quick an accurate calculations. We are able to organize data in different ways, store it and share it with the click of a button.   
• We have been able to create new tech jobs. 
• Technology is able to fit different people with different needs. Programs can adapt to a wide range of learners.
• Unlimited usable knowledge at your fingertips; learn how to change your flat tire, CPR instructions, GPS directions, Kahn Academy tutoring videos for your next test, etc. 

What do you think are some of the positives and negatives of technology? Leave your comments below.