January 2015 archive

Embed Google Form

http://www.earlybirdstrategy.com/customize-google-forms/

Here how to embed a Google form on your site without using the ugly “Google embed” code. This works great for both polls or signup boxes right in a blog post. Yay, let’s beautify the Internet! Here’s how:

1. Create your Google Form
From your Google Drive account, click Create >> Form. Add all the fields and items that you need in your form.


2. Click “View live form”
View live form
Clicking that button will take you to a page that previews what your form looks like. The url will look something like this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/234234k3lj4k3j4kl23j43kl/viewform

3. Right-click anywhere and select “View Page Source”
Right-click View Page Source

4. In the code, find the “form action” URL, which end on “formResponse.”

it will look (start and end) like this:

URL google formResponse

URL google formResponse

5. Copy that URL and paste in the code of your Web page

Dreamweaver CC

Beginning several versions ago and continuing through the current version of Dreamweaver, the program dispensed with the old method of applying these sorts of character formatting (which was to use the HTML <font> tag) in favor of using CSS styles. This change happened mostly behind the scenes in Code view, so if you have been using Dreamweaver for quite some time, you may not have even noticed the change. Beginning with Dreamweaver CS4, the program enforces the use of CSS for text styling by requiring you to participate in defining CSS rules for changing fonts, font sizes, and font colors.

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2130937&seqNum=6

My Note: I disagree with the statement in bold above. The difference in terms of text formatting between CS5 and CC reminds me painfully that decisive moment when iMovie changed from its simple layout to the FinalCut Pro layout. I clearly understand the reason why: the software is much more powerful, but the learning curve is also much steeper and does not allow novices (students) to be introduced to web development using Dreamweaver. Surely DW cannot satisfy all its customers, but the move is about to turn off the newbies.

The reason for the change to CSS is important. Pages styled with CSS are much more flexible than pages that use HTML <font> tags, and they can be maintained more easily. For example, when a site is redesigned, every page that uses <font> tags must be individually changed to match the new design. If you have hundreds or thousands of pages in your site, that’s a lot of work. Sites that use CSS to style text only need to change the style sheet document, and the changes automatically ripple through the whole site.

Using Adobe Edge web fonts

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2130937&seqNum=14

Previewing Files and Modifying Existing CSS Layouts Using Adobe Dreamweaver CC

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2044340

wearables by Microsoft Facebook and Google

The competition narrows down between Microsoft HoloLens, Facebook Oculus and Google Glass. Each of them bets on different possibilities, which wearable bring.

Facebook Oculus

https://www.oculus.com/


Also available as podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/apm-marketplace-tech/id73330855

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/20/oculus-platform/

Microsoft HoloLens

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/01/25/microsofts-hololens/

Google Glass

http://www.google.com/glass/start/

Pls consider our related IMS blog entries:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=wearable
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=google+glass
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=oculus

OCLC WorldShare

OCLC WorldShare Demo

1. search can be determined by all or selected dbases. delinted by dbases, author, date etc. that information can be also re-ordered.
can safe searches (as Aleph)
citation tools are only EndNote and Refworks. BIbNote possible. WOrks with ZOtero.
open source can be plugged in (upper right corner)
display: place hold, consortia can be displayed. buttons are available to be edited.
description: allows own.
persistent record link upper right scroll bar
access online: who the preferred provide is. off campus with proxy credentials

search same as in Aleph, but the option to select dbases
more flexible search in terms of electronic formats
report a problem is embedded.

Staff site:
Marc 21 templates

 

 

From: mnpals-discuss-bounces@lists.mnpals.org [mailto:mnpals-discuss-bounces@lists.mnpals.org] On Behalf Of Johnna Horton
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2015 7:48 AM
To: mnpals-discuss@lists.mnpals.org
Subject: [MnPALS-Discuss] OCLC WorldShare IMS Demo

 

Happy New Year and welcome back to those who had some time off over the holidays!

We have a demo scheduled for OCLC’s WorldShare product on January 26, from 10 am to noon. Originally I had asked for responses for a 90 minute demo, but the company was worried we wouldn’t have time for questions, so it was extended to noon.

This will be via WebEx and the session will not be recorded. Anyone (and everyone) in your libraries is welcome to attend.

The dial-in information is below:

Monday, January 26, 2015
10:00 am  |  Central Standard Time (Chicago, GMT-06:00)  |  2 hr

creativity

How creative are you? The following test helps you determine if you have the personality traits, attitudes, values, motivations, and interests that characterize creativity. It is based on several years’ study of attributes possessed by men and women in a variety of fields and occupations who think and act creatively.

Take this test by Kellogg School of Northwestern University

http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/uzzi/ftp/page176.html
my score is 81

Useful Creativity Tests

http://www.creativecorporateculture.com/useful-creativity-tests/

Is it possible to measure creativity?

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/is-it-possible-to-measure-creativity/

Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at the University of Georgia

 

Microsoft’s HoloLens

Microsoft’s HoloLens explained: How it works and why it’s different

http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-hololens-explained-how-it-works-and-why-its-different/

Microsoft’s HoloLens prototype has all the innards of a computer built directly into the headset. That means no cords or even a smartphone required.

Just as VR rivals Oculus (owned by Facebook) and Google are trying to reimagine virtual experiences with their head-worn devices, Microsoft wants us to imagine a world without screens, where information merely floats in front of you.

 

Games and the Brain

This Is Your Brain On Games

http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/this-is-your-brain-on-games/

“Action video games have a number of ingredients that are actually really powerful for brain plasticity, learning, attention, and vision,” says brain scientist Daphne Bavelier in her TED Talk on the subject.

In February, Italian researchers found that playing fast-paced video games can improve the reading skills of children with dyslexia.

In 2012, scientists at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found that high school gamers who played video games two hours a day were better at performing virtual surgery than non-gaming medical residents.

Super Mario gets artificial intelligence

Researchers create ‘self-aware’ Super Mario with artificial intelligence

http://mashable.com/2015/01/19/super-mario-artificial-intelligence/

A team of German researchers has used artificial intelligence to create a “self-aware” version of Super Mario who can respond to verbal commands and automatically play his own game.

Artificial Intelligence helps Mario play his own game

Students at the University of Tubingen have used Mario as part of their efforts to find out how the human brain works.

The cognitive modelling unit claim their project has generated “a fully functional program” and “an alive and somewhat intelligent artificial agent”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30879456

Can Super Mario Save Artificial Intelligence?

The most popular approaches today focus on Big Data, or mimicking humansthat already know how to do some task. But sheer mimicry breaks down when one gives a machine new tasks, and, as I explained a few weeks ago, Big Data approaches tend to excel at finding correlations without necessarily being able to induce the rules of the game. If Big Data alone is not a powerful enough tool to induce a strategy in a complex but well-defined game like chess, then that’s a problem, since the real world is vastly more open-ended, and considerably more complicated.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/can-super-mario-save-artificial-intelligence

laptop selection

Looking for a new laptop?

http://www.productchart.com/laptops/

Excellent interactive chart available from Global Network Discovery

Here is a wonderful interactive chart from Global Network Discovery that you can use to compare the affordances of different laptops. The chart compares a wide variety of laptops on criteria that include things such as : memory, storage capacity, screen size, and weight. You can also use the search functionality accompanied with the chart to refine your search by CPU, brand or model. Hovering your cursor over any laptop icon  will display a small box with details pertaining to that product. These details include, besides the specs and features of that laptop, an updated version of its price.
Keep this interactive chart handy  to use next time you want to buy a laptop. If you are looking for the best laptops for teachers, you can check this list instead. You can also use the “more” option in the chart to search for other comparison charts on smartphones, flash drives and SSD drives.
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/01/a-handy-interactive-chart-comparing.html

storytelling in the digital age

Story is a big deal – even in the digital age

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/story-big-deal-even-digital-age-touseef-mirza

Digital storytelling—baby steps. Communicating through the digital medium, ie, through websites, social media, mobile apps, is a fairly new venture. It’s only been around for 15-20 years at the most (since the dawn of the Internet). So all things considered, we are still in the early stages of exploring and understanding how to communicate effectively in the digital medium.

More on digital and traditional storytelling in this blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=storytelling

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