The Tech Ninja Blog: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Step Seven to Becoming a GOOGLE Ninja- Cool Features Google Art Project

If you can master Google, you are well on your way to becoming a tech ninja or at least impressing your friends. Yesterday we talked about Google hosting the images from Life Magazine. Today we will talk about some more of the cool things Google puts out there for your enjoyment. I would love to travel to Paris and see the Louvre, or spend time in New York and go to the MET, or visit Madrid, Berlin, London and see the great works of art in person. However, I became a teacher and unless they decide to start paying teachers a lot more, I will not be making those trips. However, thanks to Google, I can still visit all of those wonderful museums. Through the Google Art Project, http://www.googleartproject.com/, you can take a virtual tour of many art museums from around the world and see the collections for yourself. A quick note to any teacher who would like to use this with their class, nothing is edited, so if it is a nude statue at the museum, that is what you will see with your students. Just like with anything, always preview before you show students. Check back tomorrow for Step Eight to Becoming a GOOGLE Ninja.

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Kerpoof

Kerpoof is one of my all-time favorite drawing websites. Now it has been bought by Disney and while they have simplified the website, they did remove some of the cool features. With that said, it is still one of my favorites, not because of all the extra features it has, but because of the simplicity of it. Now there are several options and if you have old links you can still get to their old pages even though you can not though them on the website. If I have time, I will look though some of my old bookmarks and see if I can add some of the old links up. But if you go to http://www.kerpoof.com/ right now you have several options of what you can do.

First is spell a picture where you start typing a word, and they give you picture options that start with those letters. You can make a movie that lets you drag and drop pictures into a background and add simple animations, music and voices. Next is the drawing feature that lets you make online drawings freehand. It does have some nice features like when you draw a circle, it will recognize it and make it a perfect circle. Very easy to use with students of all ages. The last area they have is make a picture, where you pick a background and add characters and props from a predetermine list. Again its doesn’t have all the coolest most advanced features, but the simplicity is the key.

Step Six to Becoming a GOOGLE Ninja- Cool Features Life Images

If you can master Google, you are well on your way to becoming a tech ninja or at least impressing your friends. Yesterday we talked about A Google a Day. Today we will talk about some of the cool things Google puts out there for your enjoyment. Years ago there were these things called newspapers and magazines that people would use to get their information from. The biggest player on the block was Life magazine. You could almost say that they were the Google of the magazine industry. The cool thing about Life was their cover. Iconic photos and pictures were on the cover. Norman Rockwell had many of his paintings on the cover and Life and it’s one of the reasons why he is such a well know artist. We Google has gone ahead and archived those iconic images and has them available online for you to browse and enjoy. You can find them at http://images.google.com/hosted/life . So take a walk down memory lane to look at some of the best know images of the 20^th century. Check back tomorrow for Step Seven to Becoming a GOOGLE Ninja.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Get Human

Drawn by klaatu

openclipart.org

Having to call customer service/ support is one of the most annoying things you to have to do. More and more when you call you are stuck to dealing with a computer and a set list of things you can call about. Sometimes its easy to get help if you need it, sometimes not. So that’s is where Get Human http://gethuman.com/ comes in. Just go to http://gethuman.com/ and select the company that you are dealing with and you will get a number and directions to skip the computer and deal with a real life human. Slip in and out like a real tech ninja.

This Weeks Tech Rumors – Ninja Style April 21-27

Image by Hector Gomez

Openclipart.org

Leap Motion delayed to July 22^nd

So we have posted a couple of times about the Leap Motion. Both Jay and I can’t wait to get our hands on it. That’s why we were so disappointed to hear that it would be delayed to July 22^nd. Bow they are saying this is just to allow for more beta testing and there is no delay with the actual device. They also have said that they have already made 500,000 devices. Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because it sounds like they are having software issues, and you may want to pass until the glitches get worked out.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-leap-motion-delay-20130425,0,1814411.story

The NY Times release an app for Google Glass

I want a pair of Google Glasses, and even though I didn’t have the $1500 I still thought long and hard about trying to be a beta tester. As they have been given out to the beta testers, news is trickling out about them. The latest is that New York Times in releasing an app for them. Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because it gives you us more information about how they work and how we might be able to integrate them into our everyday lives.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57581514-93/new-york-times-launches-google-glass-app/

Amazon is Making TV set box

Another favorite gadget of The Tech Ninja Blog is Apple TV. But soon they will have more completion with Amazon creating their own TV set box. Now I have heard wonderful things about the Roku box and if I were Amazon, I might even think about trying to acquire Roku, but with the power of Amazon behind it I could see this TV set box becoming dominant, just like the Kindle Fire has become the dominant Android tablet. Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because completion is always good, it forces both companies to bring new features faster as well as brings down prices.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/25/4263262/how-the-living-room-became-prime-territory-for-amazon

Verizon Dropping Traditional Contracts?

I love the iPhone. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a smartphone. I also love Verizon wireless service. When I had them as my cell phone provider, I never had any issues with service or dropped calls. But I did say had, right now I am using Virgin Mobile with and LG Optimus. It’s decent, but not great. So why am I not using the iPhone with Verizon. It’s all about the monthly price. The iPhone with Verizon would cost roughly $70 a month; with the Virgin Mobile I page $26 for unlimited data and messaging (with 300 voice minutes). I do have to make some compromises for the phone and service, but the savings I feel its worth it. I also know that because I don’t have a contract, I can leave and go back to Verizon at any point if I want. Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because without the traditional contracts, people will be more likely to connect more devices to the cellular data networks. Being connected will become an even more ubiquitous part of everyday life on the go.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/verizon-contracts_n_3020309.html

Apple’s WWDC13 sells out in two minutes

Who doesn’t want to go to Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference 2013? I know I do and so do a lot of other people. Now Apple made waves saying the would now announce any new hardware until the end of the year. Then a couple of days later they announce that IOS 7 and OS 10.9 would be showcased at WWDC13. This just shows how important Apple has become and it is not just dependent on hardware releases to show its importance. Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because its Apple and they may have some surprises up their sleeve.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/25/apple-wwdc-2013-tickets-sold-out/

AT&T Announces Digital Life

I think the key is stupid. At this point in civilization I want to be able to control everything with a touch of a button (or maybe a retinal scan). AT&T’s Digital Life is a step in the right direction. At its basic level, Digital Life is a home security system that is customizable to fit your needs. This includes security cameras, sensors placed throughout the home, and professional monitoring provided through AT&T. This will allow for wireless connectivity and remote access allowing customers to quickly and easily view live feeds of their home from mobile devices. You are also able to add on services like climate control, lighting and water shutoff valves. This is not necessarily anything ground breaking there are ways to do this already, but not in a joined way for an affordable prices like they have set up. “This extends beyond monitoring and simple on/off controls, as Digital Life offers automated schedules and even rules for how your home will react to changing conditions. For example, you can set your porch light to turn on and off at the same time every day or set up sensors to shut off your water if a leak is detected.” Why is this so important to a Tech Ninja, because every Tech Ninja wants a Smart House.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418196,00.asp