Archive for December, 2006

Free Copy of “Inconvenient Truth”

Posted by Surrural Librarian on Dec 19 2006 | Libraries

Participate.net says:

We have 50,000 copies of An Inconvenient Truth to give away to teachers in the United States. The first 50,000 teachers who apply are eligible to win. There is a limit of one DVD per teacher. All entries must be received by January 18, 2007.

link: http://www.participate.net/educators/DVD/giveaway

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More Free Online Tools

Posted by Surrural Librarian on Dec 12 2006 | Internet

Oh boy, two more cool, free tools for school librarians (and the rest of the population). Could things get any easier?

PBWiki
Where you can create a simple blog for free. The wiki software is slightly simpler than Media Wiki and the skins are very nice. I’ve got a couple that I’m experimenting with my students on. Their first wiki, it should be an experience.

And SlideShare.net
A slide show sharing site which will convert your ppt into flash that you can embedded into your website. No more ugly ppt to html conversions.

yippee for free!

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So Many New Reasons to Love Firefox Even More

Posted by Surrural Librarian on Dec 05 2006 | Internet, Open Source

Firefox is simply a testament to the virtuosity of open source communities. Excellent bookmark organizing, tabbed browsing, spell check and the quick search box search engine list are so far superior to what other browsers offer.

But what really makes Firefox the Queen of all that is browsing is the ever increasing list of Add-ons. What a world of particular people there are out there. It’s like finding a new tribe.

There are two add-ons that I can no longer live without, it’s that simple.

Add-Block Plus blocks a huge majority of the advertisements on most web pages. And you can add to the list of blocked adds on your own computer, then share that file with all your student machines.

I’m doing a unit right now on advertising and I have the students view sites in both Firefox and Safari so they can see what they’re usually missing. I’m constantly horrified by the number of sites recommended for kids (Yahooligans anyone?) that are covered in advertising. I’m not sure if the teachers sending their students to sites with copious advertising even give it a second thought, but I wish they would. Give the kids a break, they get enough advertising outside of school.

Tab Mix Plus is more a tool for me than the students, I admit. But the excellent array of preferences for tabs is just the thing for this particular gal. Put your “close tab button” on the left side and you’re never go back. I also suggest having new sites always open in a new tab, so you’ll be reminded to go back whence you came.

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