Will: My Interests

Original Hitchhiker's Guide BBC Radio show

Thu, 05 May 2005 03:52:48 GMT

I found a link to a radio station hosting the original BBC radio production of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Thanks to a link from Ben Fulton.

Replacing the ink cartridge on an Epson 740 printer

Wed, 04 May 2005 03:14:53 GMT

I have an Epson 740i printer. For the last four years I have had aggravating experiences when trying to replace the ink cartridge. The printer supposedly figures out when the cartridges are out of ink, but this almost never works. Then this happens, as mentioned on an excellent support page I found:

Ok, I'm trying to replace the cartridges, but when I hold down the ink button (first on the left), the print carriage just goes back and forth a few times but never stops for me to replace the cartridges. -- Epson 740 ONLY

There is a trick to replacing an ink cartridge if the printer doesn't believe the cartridge is empty. Normally (this part is documented under your printer cover), to replace a cartridge, you would hold down the ink button for 3 seconds causing the carriage assembly would come to the left allowing for cartridge removal. IF the printer doesn't believe the cartridges to be empty, then all that will happen is the carriage assembly will move right and left and not stop for you in the open area. THE TRICK (and this ISN'T under the printer cover) is to hold down the paper feed button (center button) for 3 seconds. This will bring the print carriage to the open section and allow you to replace the cartridges regardless of whether the printer thinks it's time to change the cartridges or not.

From http://www.sbcsc.k12.in.us/techsupport/printers/EPSON_FAQ.html

Why watch TV when you can learn via online video lectures?

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:50:51 GMT

I found a couple of great resources recently for people interested in education: BYU's McKay School of Education has posted some excellent online lectures/presentations:

McKay School of Education :: Multimedia Library

The Indiana University School of Education has a similar page:

http://www.indiana.edu/~icy/ebrownbag/

The Janko Chromatic Keyboard

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 03:24:25 GMT

I learned about an interesting keyboard system today: The Janko Chromatic Keyboard

It has actually been pulled out of the ashes and redone in electronic keyboard format. See the Chromatone 312 for an example.

My pet peeve with USB

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 06:09:50 GMT

I like how USB means all of the cables on your computer have the same connector, but is anyone else annoyed by how difficult it is put the plug in right-side-up? I am usually reaching back around the side of my computer to plug it in, making it difficult to tell if I have the plug flipped around quite right. And you don't get much feedback when you are plugging the cable in as to whether it is right-side-up because even when it is oriented correctly it still can be difficult to get it plugged in correctly.

Useful websites

Wed, 16 Feb 2005 02:41:20 GMT

Here is a link to a list I am compiling of useful websites.

Visual Thesaurus 3 and spelling words

Fri, 04 Feb 2005 03:54:38 GMT

Tonight I was showing Mikayla my weblog so she could see what I wrote about "Finding Rily the Graffe". She remembered that I have a link to A.Word.A.Day and wanted to see what today's word was. She noticed a link to the Visual Thesaurus and wanted to check it out. I was surprised to see that Visual Thesaurus is now at version 3, having recently been improved.

Once Mikayla saw how it worked, she wanted to put in all of her spelling words (like weather, breath, ready) to see what words would appear in the thesaurus. She tried each word and got a kick out of the synonyms it provided. What a great way to study your spelling words!

Mirror Neurons

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:46:14 GMT

I saw a segment on NOVA tonight that has some interesting implications in how we teach and learn: Mirror Neurons. My basic understanding of this theory is that when we watch someone else do something, neurons in our own brain mimic the activity needed to accomplish what we are seeing. They used the example of watching someone struggle carrying too many heavy packages. When we see them we vicariously live it out ourselves, trying to balance the packages for them. I have seen another example of this when someone feeds a baby. Often the person feeding will open their mouth as they are spooning in the mashed carrots, as if eating for the child.

I think it provides evidence for the value of observation when trying to learn a new skill, and also when trying to improve a skill. Observing is more than just "seeing how it's done" - it is already a form of rehearsal.

Also, Danial Glaser, the researcher interviewed, talks about how there is greater "resonance" of neural activity when you see something performed that you have physically performed yourself. You have a greater capacity to perform it cognitively while watching. So this might suggest the need to alternate between observation and practice.

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:26:32 GMT

Interesting entry from elearningpost:

The Storytelling Problem.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his new book Blink, takes a look at how people make snap decisions. More specifically, he describes how people make snap decisions without knowing they are doing so. And when asked to explain their reasoning, these people attribute all the wrong reasons to their decisions. This is, according to Gladwell, because we humans have a 'storytelling problem'.

"We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit to quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for."

This becomes quite apparent when we interview experts. Being experts, these people "thin-slice" most of the time, and that too, in a subconscious manner. When we interview them, we are asking them to peep into their subconscious (their "locked door") and to come up with explanations for their actions. But its difficult for experts to figure out why they do what they do -- they can't open their "locked door" -- so they end up telling us only the most plausible story, which as Gladwell describes, can be far from the truth. It is only with sustained interviews with many experts that we can get some patterns or principles of their "thin-slicing".

[elearningpost]

Glider Pro is now a free download

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:28:40 GMT

I just found out that the author of one of my favorite Mac games is giving it away for free! The classic Glider Pro X (Yes, it runs in OS X) where you pilot a paper airplane through all kinds of spaces is now free.

Coldheat and cold fusion

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 03:50:10 GMT

I almost bought the Coldheat soldering iron today as a gift for someone. It looked like a great idea. Then I read the negative reviews on the amazon.com website. What a bummer, it looks like someone is trying to make money off Pons and Fleischmann's research again. ;-)

If you may recall, Pons and Fleischmann, two University of Utah chemists, were looking at ways to facilitate cold fusion in 1989. I was actually taking a high school/college AP Chemistry class at the time, and the excitement over their work was all over campus. There were even t-shirts in the U of U bookstore touting the school as the home of cold fusion. The two scientists held a surprise press conference to announce their breakthrough (taken as quite an affront by the scientific community since they skirted the journals), but other scientists couldn't reproduce the results of the experiments, kind of like how the current Coldheat reviewers on Amazon can't get it to work as advertised.

Pixar

Mon, 15 Nov 2004 04:13:33 GMT

An excellent article about Pixar. Sometimes you wonder if, in a hundred years we will look back and see classics that were created during our lives. My bet is that at least some of the Pixar films will be there. I would love to learn more about how their organization works.

Target disses the bell ringers

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 12:53:57 GMT

Our ward (church congregation) participates annually in helping the Salvation Army ring bells and collect donations at shopping locations. Because of this I was disappointed to hear that this year Target is not going to allow the Salvation Army to ring bells at their stores.

Hopefully they will reconsider, but probably there isn't time. Maybe all that great design in getting to their heads. I will think twice before shopping there this season.

50 Writing Tools

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 01:02:11 GMT

I recommend this site for anyone looking for practical writing advice: 50 Writing Tools

I read up to Tool #5 and plan on going back and doing the activities he suggests. Reading about these tools makes me feel like I am being let in on an ancient secret family recipe; the things he teaches go beyond simple grammar rules and give you an over-the-shoulder view into the methods of an expert writer.

USU is hiring professors

Sat, 30 Oct 2004 06:22:05 GMT

USU Instructional Technology is Currently Hiring. There are two positions open at Utah State in the Instructional Technology department: An associate professor and an assistant professor. For more information contact Mimi Recker or David...
[USU IT Blog]

Quotations from Chairman Powell: A Leadership Primer - Colin Powell quote, Colin Powell Leadership

Sat, 23 Oct 2004 18:52:14 GMT

great leadership advice!

Excellent tip on using shortcuts in Radio

Wed, 29 Sep 2004 03:57:40 GMT

from [Donovan Watts: Radio: The Missing Manual]
Stop the insanity!

I'm tired of typing the same URL over and over again. Aren't you? You know the drill.. Start a weblog post in Radio, create a link to the same web address that you've typed a hundred times before, hope you got all the HTML correct, and post your entry. Fortunately, Radio allows us to save shortcuts for those URL's that we refer to often, so that instead of typing out all that bothersome HTML code every time, we simply type a special word that we get to create and be sure to enclose it in double quotes.

For instance, I refer to NetNewsWire, the RSS news reader by Ranchero Software quite a bit. I got tired of type the HTML code every time I wanted to make a link to their site. So, I added a shortcut to Radio called 'nnw' and then entered the HTML code that makes it a link. Now, whenever I type those letters, enclose them in double quotes, and post to my site, Radio will automatically convert that shortcut into the full HTML code that creates a link to Ranchero's site. Let's test it. This should produce a link to NetNewsWire.

Here's how you do it. Start up Radio. From the Tools-Developer's menu, select Jump... or Command-J for the Mac users like me out there. Enter user.html.glossary and choose OK. You'll see a bunch of entries which are existing shortcuts.

Try adding your own shortcut. Hit Enter to start a new entry, add a shortcut name, tab to the next field, enter the HTML for that link (follow the example of another shortcut to be sure you get it right) and hit Enter. Now, the next time you enter a new post in Radio, just enter your shortcut in double quotes and Radio will expand it for you, automatically.

There's more to know about Shortcuts, if you find this helpful. Perhaps I'll talk more about them in the future. Until then, take a look at the shortcuts page on the Radio site for more info.

[Donovan Watts: Radio: The Missing Manual]

Project Vote Smart

Wed, 22 Sep 2004 03:47:35 GMT

This is an informative website when preparing for upcoming elections. For example, when I put in my zip code I see a nice summary of my choices. They send a survey (the NPAT or National Political Awareness Test) to many of the candidates and then post their responses online, making it much easier to compare candidates (although, unfortunately, many candidates refuse to return the survey).

Discovery: MS Word defaults based on 1970's typewriter

Sat, 11 Sep 2004 03:07:30 GMT

(Following is an attempt at satire)

Today I learned why I detest the default document settings in Microsoft Word:

From all the news reports today I figure that Microsoft must have based Normal.dot (the default Word document) on a 1970's era IBM Selectric typewriter! It's irrefutable. Somebody found some old documents from the 70's and when you retype them in Word, guess what? They look the same! (I'm thinking IBM may be taking Microsoft to court on this one soon).

I am also betting Microsoft must of hired this guy named Jerry Killian when they were programming the automatic word wrap feature. If you compare the ends of lines on a modern Word document, they end just were Mr. Killian would have ended them. I hope his family is getting royalties for this.

Anachronism

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 04:28:40 GMT

Here is a great example of an Anachronism. Here is the definition. Here is an explanation.

Rules to Tetherball and more

Sun, 05 Sep 2004 02:49:42 GMT

In honor of Napoleon Dynamite (we just saw the movie tonight), here is a "Complete Tetherball Reference." A sample:

Tetherball should be among the world's most popular sports, but it has only caught on in selected regions...

Hurricane Frances Blog

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 20:42:21 GMT

If you want a first-hand view of what Hurricane Frances is doing, here is an excellent source: Weatherbug blogs Hurricane Frances.

Times and Seasons available online now.

Fri, 03 Sep 2004 04:16:25 GMT

You can read the original texts of the Times and Seasons online. It appears that a branch of the RLDS church (that still calls itself RLDS instead of the revised name taken by some) hosts the document, and gives an explanation of it here.

Olympics

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 04:37:29 GMT

Aren't the Olympics great? Too bad Rulon Gardner didn't get the gold. He sure showed great sportsmanship though. Maybe they should award some medals at the end of the Olympics for sportsmanship. Another guy who deserves one is the Russian gymnast who calmed the crowd down when they were racously protesting a bad score he was given. I think I will keep an eye out for good sportsmanship. Maybe it counts more than winning in the long run.

Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:03:02 GMT

Perplexing Problem? Borrow Some Brains.

This report "shows that the approaches and outcomes of cooperating groups are not just better than those of the average group member, but are better than even the group's best problem solver functioning alone." There are some nice stories that illustrate the point very well.

[elearningpost]