OCT: Social Media in the Classroom

OCT encourages its members to consider using Social media appropriately in the classroom.

Yale and IBM team up: Jobs are in Analytics

Why laptops?

This post is an excerpt from A talk to parents: Why laptops? | Dangerously Irrelevant | Big Think.

You’re about to hand laptops over to their 12– and 13–year-old children. What do you tell your school’s parents? Here are some excerpts from what Rob McCrae, ICT Director for the Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, New Zealand, told his…

“Most of us went through school and, by and large, succeeded. When we had education done to us, we experienced what I call the "just in case model" of education. We learned things just in case they might be useful. Just in case they might be on the test. Just in case we might look for a job in that area. Just in case you might study physics later on.

Video Conversion software

This post is an excerpt from Educational Technology Guy: Free Video Format Conversion Software (3 of them).

WM Converter - another easy to use video converter. Converts from almost any format to almost any other format. You can also convert multiple files in the same session, so you can "set it and forget it" (sorry Ronco).

Free Video Converter = MPEG Converter + AVI Converter + FLV Converter + YouTube Video Converter + MP4 Converter
Any Video Converter - simple, easy to use, powerful video conversion.This one can also clip, sort, and merge video clips to create a new movie and can also crop the frame. This has saved me a few times when other converters just wouldn't convert a file. It also can convert with better quality many times.

Talk to your Browser: Chrome goes Text to Speech

This post is an excerpt from Talk to Your Computer: Chrome Listens and Translates (Through HTML).

The latest stable release of the Chrome browser today contains a cool new feature: speech input through HTML. This means that you can talk into your computer's microphone, and your recorded audio will be translated to text and typed out for you.

That's great for speech-to-text input in general - for the purposes of dictation and transcription. But as Google demonstrates, there are a number of other ways in which this can be utilized, including in Google Translate.

The text-input box for Google Translate now accepts voice input. Simply speak the word or phrase you'd like translated - no typing necessary. (You can also hear the translation spoken aloud too.)

Hacked: 70M Users' Accounts compromised

This post is an excerpt from Update: Personal Data of 70 Million Sony Customers Exposed in Hack.

The hack that has plagued the Playstation Network for the last week is much worse than simply taking down the platform. Sony reports on its Playstation Network blog that personal data of its 70 million users has been exposed by the hacker, including the possibility of credit card numbers.

According to the Playstation Network blog; "we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birth date, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained."

Sony has said that credit card information may have been obtained but they cannot be sure.

Data Visualization - Making numbers REAL.

This guy isn't a cyber-nerd. He's a real person using visual tools to give meaning to numbers.