The+Cutting+Edge

RockMelt is a new browser that is meant to compete against Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. **Purpose:**To make what we do each day easier without having to toggle back and forth between windows while we do our usual surfing. According to the visionaries at RockMelt, the average person who uses the Web goes to just a handful of Web sites a day several times a day for updates and uses social networking tools. RockMelt puts your social network and your favorite sites together on one page.
 * The Cutting Edge**
 * November 2010 **

This is what has been said about RockMelt so far:
 * RockMelt brings together browsing and social networking


 * After you download it you must log into a Facebook account


 * It's not making money yet but has received backing from prominent investors
 * To make money, RockMelt's next step is to charge Google and Bing and other companies for directing users to their sites; RockMelt may be able to charge eBay for advertising space

For more information about RockMelt, read the article found at  http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_16808815?source=rss

**Geolocation**—is supposed to be the next best thing in tech
 * Facebook and geosocial reporting work through mobile phones. Examples of applications that faciliate geosocial reporting are Go Walla Foursquare. Using such applications help users find out which friends are at an event or in the area


 * Users who bring their friends in to say, Joe's Pizza, can get discount coupons
 * So far only 4% of Americans using geolocation

In April 2010 15% of global Internet traffic was re-routed through China for less than 20 minutes. Re-routed through China? A detour through China?? Why, why, why??? The Chinese government claims it was a mistake.
 * An Information Detour through China **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">What happened to that data in China? Who knows? What if the data were encrypted, could the Chinese have had access to it? Possibly.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">By the way, here are some organizations whose data were re-routed through China: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Dell <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Microsoft <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Yahoo <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">U.S. Government—military and civilian networks <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">U.K. installations <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Australian installations <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">South Korean installations <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Indian installations

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">How is this possible? TheInternet is based on trust. Data is passed off from one telecommunications company to another. Companies tell each other that they are the best way to reach certain destination. In this case, China Telecom somehow advertised that its routes/networks were the most efficient at that time. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Believe it or not, re-routing happens frequently. What was special about this situation was that there was no lag—everything flowed smoothly—whereas in other cases, the Internet slows down.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">If it’s any consolation, any entity that can intercept data can also be intercepted, so there is a deterrence for any entity to do too much damage in this way to another.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">For more information on this event, visit []

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">For **general information about technolog**y, visit and listen to podcasts such as

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">//NPR Future Tense// is hosted by John Moe It's a daily 5-minute digest of what's new in technology //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">NPR Technology //

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The following are hosted by Leo Laporte and feature various guests. Each podcast is about 1.5-2 hours long and give detailed information about various aspects of technology. What I especially like about Laporte's podcasts the segment called "Tip of the Week".

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">MacBreak Weekly //

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This Week in Technology //

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This Week in Tech //

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The simplest way to access these podcasts is to go through Apple iTunes store and download/subscribe to the podcasts.

July 2010 Death knell for Google Wave. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">Some folks say that Wave was one of those applications that was ahead of its time. It fit too many uses; it didn't have one single niche. Sharing, replacing email, this that and more. Google is going to pull the plug on Wave by the end of 2010.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 156%;">**iPad Envy--May 28, 2010** <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> OK, I managed to borrow an iPad. I decided to borrow an iPad and kick the tires, so to speak, before I gave into impulse buying and laid out $800. (Yes, when everything is said and done it will cost you about that even though the adverts say Look an iPad for only $499.) Here are my observations:


 * It's thin
 * It's sleek looking
 * It's got a touch screen
 * And ooh, it comes loaded with brain games such as Rush Hour, Traffic Jam and Hanoi
 * I can access the Internet
 * Ah, here's the QWERTY keyboard, so I can type on it
 * A movie! I can watch a movie on its nice, big screen
 * The sound isn't bad. Hmmm...where's the volume control
 * I can read a book on it...uh, it's kind of like reading a book on my Mac
 * Well, it seems to be a little lighter than my Mac and it doesn't cook my legs. It might be nice to take the beach
 * Whoa! I can see a darn thing on the screen when I'm in the sun! What the...? Ah, it's that nifty glass touch screen that creates the glare. In contrast, I can read a Kindle at the beach <hint Apple, hint>
 * More Internet surfing...Let me try watching a video on BrainPOP. HEY! What's that you say? The iPad doesn't work with Adobe Flash so I can't watch Flash videos on my iPad??
 * There's no USB port!! I can't upload any files!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's not even an SD card slot!!!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Apple almost had me hooked with the nerd games. In short, I'm not ready to fork over nearly $1000 to Apple. Lots of changes will have to be made. Frankly, just before Steven Jobs unveiled the iPad earlier this year and the whole industry was titillated by the prospect of a new Apple product, I was secretly hoping the iPad would be a touch-based, MAC OS answer to the Windows-based netbook. That was not to be. I think, though, I'm not alone in my request to Apple to make the iPad more like a netbook. I would add, if Apple wants to corner the ereader market, the company is going to have to do something to the screen to make it friendlier to folks who want to read books on it. The display is too bright and in the bright light of the sun, the bright screen of the iPad is unreadable. Perhaps an e-ink book reader mode is in order?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">What I especially don't like about the iPad is that users have to buy this "app" and that app to make the iPad do nifty things. Here's an example: You pay $2.99 for a news aggregator called River of News that supposedly makes your articles "flow" more and requires you to do less clicking and tapping between headers and articles. There's an app for keeping track of your blood pressure. There's an app for recording your heart rate. There's an app for this and and an app for that. $1.99 here, $2.99 there--it all adds up, and suddenly your tablet computer which was supposed to cost $499 now costs you well over $1000!!

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I applaud Apple's efforts to take us in a new direction (disruptive innovation, anyone?), but I think the iPad as it is now is not it. Perhaps in a few generations it will be where I want it to be before I spend my hard-earned cash. In the meantime, I'll stick with my MacBook.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">According to NPD, a market research firm, the Android platform has eclipsed Blackberry in the United States. Click here for the article.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">May 2010 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">What is Android? Android operating system put out by Google. The truth is, Google purchased Android Inc. and, thus, owns the rights to the operating system. Several smartphones, including the Droid DX run the Android platform. Even though lots of people love the platform, there is a bit of a learning curve that is steeper (I think) than the learning curve for the iPhone. Like other Apple products, the iPhone is more intuitive than phones that run Android. Android has lots of options, hence the need to invest more time in learning how to operate phones that use it.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Google Gears is dying. Google Gears has changed its way of thinking. For more about it read PCWorld's <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> @http://www.pcworld.com/article/189979/shed_a_tear_for_google_gears.html
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">February 2010 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">See what Nicholas Negroponte, Founder and CEO of One Laptop Per Child has to say about the laptops vs. books debate.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Laptops vs. Books...is it a moot point? **

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//Source: bigthink.com//

Which device, **Amazon's Kindle** or **Apple's iPad**, will pave the way for e-reading and other applications in education? Is there a dark horse on the horizon? Read on.

**Amazon's Kindle vs. Apple's iPad** E-readers are light-weight hand-held electronic devices that allow users to download and read heaps of books and other documents. They very well may replace textbooks in the near future. Kindle was the first big kid on the e-reader block. But now there's the iPad with color, graphics, a keyboard and a pricing structure that has sweetened the deal for publishers. Which product will corner the market? Read the attached document to find out what folks in the industry have to say about the battle.



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> **Amazon's Kindle vs. iTouch & iPhone--June 4, 2010** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> As I understand things now, users can read Kindle books on various devices such as an iTouch and an iPhone. You need to download an application. If you go to the iTunes apps store, download Kindle for iPhone. There's another app called Stanza. Other options are ereader.com and fictionwise.com. An actual Kindle device is not necessary.

**Digital Technology and the Personalized Instruction** Technology integration! Individualized instruction! Differentiation! What is a weary teacher to do? For more on using tech see the article below.