Technology

information & communication technology

Skype is getting slower on Aliant’s Network

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My ISP is Bell Aliant and I subscribe to their high speed Ultra service, which has a download speed of around 600 kbps from the Aliant server. A recent speed check on SpeakEasy showed the following:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 5163 kbps (645.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 543 kbps (67.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

My problem over the past couple of months is that the quality of the calls on Skype is getting much worse. I thought that it was a problem with my connection, because the people I called said that there were gaps in my transmissions, making it almost impossible to understand me.

I had this problem on a call to California the other day and later on a call to Switzerland. In each case we switched to Google Talk and then we had clear, telephony-quality, calls. The cause of the problem was not my connection speed.

There seems to be either a decrease in the quality of Skype’s VoIP, or something else is affecting this service. Does Google Talk use a different transmission protocol? Is someone on the network blocking or slowing-down Skype’s service? I’d be interested in hearing about similar problems or ways to fix this.

Customers ask Dell for Linux

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Dell has created a “sort-of” open user community site (Dell insists on owning all of the suggestions) to generate ideas on how to improve Dell products & services. The most popular suggestion on Dell Idea Storm is to provide computers with pre-installed Linux; followed by a suggestion to have Windows boxes with pre-installed OpenOffice.org alongside MS Office.

I think that this year may be the tipping point for desktop Linux with the Linspire and Ubuntu canonical partnership announced recently. The partnership may result in a more user-friendly Linux desktop for the mainstream.

If Dell follows the suggestions (382 comments on suggestion #1 so far) from the crowd, there may soon be an easy way for your average user to get on the open source cluetrain.

Update: Dell will soon be selling Linux-loaded desktop PC’s and notebooks

Perhaps it’s all about the technology

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I’ve commented many times that the pedagogy is always more important than the technology, and it’s a common statement from many folks in the training and education field. However, I’m wondering if that’s not quite correct. Perhaps it’s all about the technology.

Consider the classroom. The technologies that are selected have a direct impact on the learning context. Desks, whiteboards, curriculum, class duration and tests are all technologies. By limiting access to certain technologies and adopting others, one makes decisions that strongly influence learning. Some technologies empower users while others empower administrators. If it wasn’t about technology, then the best education venue would still be a cave wall and we would not have made any progress since then.

The industrial schoolhouse was a technology designed to educate more students and prepare them for an industrial workplace. Some technologies we use, others we ignore and some we ban. These decisions indicate where we stand in terms of our ideas about individual rights, democracy, critical thinking and education itself.

Unless you’re teaching in Plato’s cave, you’ve made decisions about technology; implicit or explicit. Anyway, I’m starting to think that it’s all about the technology, or the technology choices that we make.

New Personal Creativity Management Device Launches

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Local company, Sackville Industries, has just launched a revolutionary personal creativity management device that may herald a new era in information technology. Podcasts are so “last week” when you can have the i-Think (patent pending). Graham Watt, President & CEO of Sackville Industries says that this product has been years in the making and has undergone extensive R&D and user testing. “This will make the iPod look like a rounding error”, he said at the product launch, held this morning at The Bridge Street Café in downtown Sackville, New Brunswick.

Here is a sample of the product information, currently available:

i-think
USER’S MANUAL

Directions:
Put i-think’s ear phones in place.
Fondle button.
Think.

Important:
Batteries not included because there’s nowhere to put them.
Ask about our comprehensive lifetime warranty plan.
If button falls off, glue it back on.
Not responsible for depth or quality of thinking.
If voices heard on earphones see clinical psychiatrist.

Accessories:
Genuine imitation moose nostril hide i-think holster
with belt clip available on special request: $2300.

i-think.
therefore I sort of am.
i-think.JPG

More to follow on this amazing technology and I hope to have a complete product review as soon as possible, so stay tuned.

Urgent Update: I’ve just been informed that Sackville Industries was bought today by the Dollar Store for $2.00 and 55 fluffy pillows. Here is the new company brand:

brand.jpg

I will not buy MS Vista

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Michael Geist explains in plain English why there is no reason to rent (you’re not purchasing it anyway) Microsoft Vista:

Even after installation, the legal agreement grants Microsoft the right to revalidate the software or to require users to reactivate it should they make changes to their computer components. In addition, it sets significant limits on the ability to copy or transfer the software, prohibiting anything more than a single backup copy and setting strict limits on transferring the software to different devices or users.

Vista also incorporates Windows Defender, an anti-virus program that actively scans computers for “spyware, adware, and other potentially unwanted software.” The agreement does not define any of these terms, leaving it to Microsoft to determine what constitutes unwanted software. Once operational, the agreement warns that Windows Defender will, by default, automatically remove software rated “high” or “severe,”even though that may result in other software ceasing to work or mistakenly result in the removal of software that is not unwanted.

Given that most applications are available on the web (e.g. GoogleDocuments, Gliffy, Gmail …) and that Apple or Linux give you an excellent desktop, is there any reason to support this monopoly? Not for me.

USPTO to re-examine Blackboard patent filing

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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (aka the SFLC) :-)

Slashdot reports today that:

“Groklaw is reporting that the US Patent and Trademark Office has just ordered a re-examination of the e-learning patent owned by Blackboard Inc, thanks to a filing by the Software Freedom Law Center. SFLC’s press release states, ‘The Patent Office found that prior art cited in SFLC’s request raises “a substantial new question of patentability” regarding all 44 claims of Blackboard’s patent…’ The SFLC explains that though such re-examinations may take a couple of years to complete, approximately ‘70% of re-examinations are successful in having a patent narrowed or completely revoked.'”

The Blackboard patent, and subsequent suit against competitor Desire2Learn, has been widely reported. Here’s an overview of the patent application as well as a subsequent comparison with Elgg’s functions that I did last year.

Thanks, Chris.

LCD Projector Rentals

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I’m conducting a workshop on informal learning in Ottawa on January 30th and there seems to be some difficulty in finding a decent price for an LCD projector rental. I can probably borrow one and pack it with me but I’m heading to Las Vegas right after the workshop and that means lugging it around and getting through Customs and back.

Does anyone know of a company in Ottawa that rents LCD projectors for less than $400 per day and might even be willing to deliver it to the hotel?

Update: we found one – thanks for all the help :-)

Linux; best for your average home user

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You know the TV commercial with the hip Apple computer talking to the nerdy Windows PC? Well, it’s not just Macs that can work right out of the box. Today, Linux is simple and easy enough for the mainstream.

This morning I went downtown and bought a new hard drive for my +3 year old Dell Inspiron 8500, as the old one was shot. I inserted the backup installation CD (Win Professional SP 1) and went through the install process. It took about an hour to get the Windows desktop up and running. I then tried to connect to my broadband but could not, so I next installed the network drivers from the backup Dell utilities CD, but still was not able to connect.

During the installation process I used the option to partition the hard drive and only used 50 GB of the available 80 GB for Windows. The rest remained unformatted.

I turned off the computer and then booted from the CD (F12) and inserted an Ubuntu Linux CD that I had previously downloaded (for free of course). On boot-up from the CD I clicked on the “Install Ubuntu” icon on the Ubuntu desktop (very obvious to see). I followed the half dozen instructions and installed Ubuntu on the unformatted portion of the hard drive. This took about 10 minutes.

On re-booting, I selected the main Ubuntu option and was soon looking at the Ubuntu desktop. I did not change any settings and I did not install any other programs. I just opened the Firefox browser (a clearly marked icon) and was on the Web – immediately.

It’s a few hours later and my son is still playing with Windows and trying to connect to the Net.

Update: 24 hours later and we haven’t been able to get Windows connected to the Net. Linux is still working fine.

Update 2: Three days later and still cannot get Windows drivers working to connect to the Net. Linux working like a charm.
ubuntu.gif

Why schools need to adopt open source software – Now

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David Thornburg provides a very good explanation on how proprietary software is crippling our ability to use information and communications technologies effectively for education. My own experience with the DRM not letting me play a legally rented movie shows the absurdity of our present commercial situation. It’s why I’ve switched from Microsoft and Dell crippleware to the open source VLC Player.

Thornburg shows how proprietary software vendors are treating all of their customers like criminals and making, “NO, you cannot do what you want to do, even if it is legal”, as the default use mode:

How much of our energy is spent overcoming obstacles instead of enjoying or building creative works? There is little doubt that vendors of “protected” software must hate their customers. They want to look at our computers remotely, make surprise visits for license checks, and otherwise treat us as people who should be marched away in shackles. And, tragically, we buy into this nonsense by spending money with the very people who treat us like dirt.

Enter Linux and OSS. Imagine a software world where the answer is YES, not NO. Yes, you CAN give a copy of your presentation software to a child who wants to finish a project at home. Yes, you CAN play DVD’s from any region in the world on your computer. Yes, you CAN tweak a program to add a new feature, or even fix a bug yourself. Yes, you CAN use an operating system that takes less than a class period to boot up. Yes, you CAN have all your software updated automatically for free. Yes, you CAN make older computers behave like energetic teens by eliminating the software bloat associated with Windows. Yes, you CAN save enough money to bring even more technology into the hands of children. Yes, you CAN be part of a global community of educators who see technology as a tool of empowerment for ALL children, rich or poor.

Check out the many options at Make the Move or Software for Starving Students. I just installed Linux Ubuntu on one of our computers and it worked like a charm. There is a bit of a learning curve on the different model that Linux uses, such as the Package Manager, but if you have a teenager in the house it shouldn’t take long to figure it out ;-)

Reading iWoz

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I’m currently reading Steve Wozniak’s autobiography, iWoz. Wozniak was the co-founder of Apple Computers and is an engineer by profession. It’s not my usual reading, but he will be at our local university in two weeks, as part of the Wilford Jonah Lecture Series.

poster_woz_small.jpg

The other reviews of the book are quite mixed but what I’ve found interesting about his early years is the importance of positive reinforcement and the key roles of a few people at critical times. One or two teachers, as well as his father, provided the right amount of encouragement at the right time. Wozniak went on to become what many claim to be “the inventor” of the personal computer.

As Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

Update:

After reading the book, I find that it is a personal account of how Woz learned about computers, electronics and engineering. The book is partially about Apple Computers, but I would not call this a business book. Woz says he wrote the book to set the record straight on several statements that appear in the press or other published books. He also seems to have written this book as inspiration for young people who may wish to become inventors.

I found the book interesting, but not overly inspirational, but then I’m not a fan of autobiographies. I would recommend it for computer engineers, techies or high school students who may be looking at their options in life.